


Seed of Flowey

by Roku_Takeru



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Undertale Fusion, Gen, No More Resets (Undertale), Undertale Fan Extension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2018-06-01 15:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 159,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6526198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roku_Takeru/pseuds/Roku_Takeru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After barrier was destroyed, Frisk and the monsters were free to go to the surface and a happy ending should have followed. But a 'plan' was still in motion, and the humans aren't that open to monsters just yet. Frisk will have to face a challenge she couldn't expect from her kind, Asriel returns with a new power and a warning, and another human is determined to see things through the end. Will it all end with a better happy ending, or will the plan succeed and will ignite the flames of both sides' genocide?</p><p>Most of the characters and settings are from the Original game Undertale, created and owned by Toby Fox. While some monster OCs, most of the human OCs, character tweaks (such as additional skills and character development with others), story extension and change are from yours truly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Untold stories (part one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems that the first part of the story was lacking something, so I had to back track and update it so that it could clarify some stuffs. In this case, I will be going back to check all the other chapters and update them it might confuse the previous readers but it should be less confusing or at least, it should be less 'rushed'?

                It was over for Asriel, the Hyper God of Death. The souls he took with him were pulsing in unison, and it was all because of Frisk, the seventh human to fall underground. Her determination to save even the final boss of the underground brought back the one thing missing in him, the ability to feel emotions and love. He gave up trying to stop the human from repeating her journeys, as he returned all of the souls back to the monsters.

                Frisk was a naïve young child, that she had forgiven someone who tried to put her into a genocide route. Asriel couldn’t forgive himself for doing all the bad things while he was a flower, and so after the heart-warming hug from the human, he had no other choice but to leave and disappear, without confronting his parents. Otherwise, if he stayed, he might become a flower all over again, and assumed that he might do more damage than what was already done.

                As time passed, and before the monsters had gone up the surface Frisk returned to the ruins. Where she fell on top of the bed of golden flowers. Asriel was there, looking down murmuring words that cannot be understood far away. Despite that the goat child had tried to brush off the human, she insisted to know him better. They got to know each other, but with little time left, Asriel felt something cold on his shoulders. It must be time for him to return to his new form: A flower. “Frisk, don’t you have anything better to do?” He asked.

                Seeing the goat child in pain, Frisk hugged him for the last time. The cold feeling had suddenly become warm, as if his sins were forgiven. With the last farewell, the human left to meet up with his friends at the capital. Asriel had a strange feeling, as if he was beaming with energy and will to live. It was a strange sensation for him, only because he never felt something like this before. “What is this feeling….?” He asked himself, soon after he didn’t ponder anymore and just slept on the bed of flowers until he turns back into Flowey.

[Asriel gained Determination]

 

* * *

 

After the conversation the monsters were having, Frisk had joined up with them.

“Let’s go.” She said, while leading them outside. The King and ex-Queen of the monsters were about to see the surface once more, Undyne and Papyrus were eager to go out and see it for the first time. Sans and Alphys were making guesses of what they will see outside. The rest of the monsters followed, and by the time everyone had reached the exit they were amazed as to what the outside world looked like.

They were at the top of the mountain, to see the horizon stretching out. The view was more beautiful than anyone could have imagined. The sun was bright that gave them new hope to everyone who sees it, the wind was fresh and it was breezing enough to allow any fire and water monster to feel relaxed. The forest just ahead of the mountain was fairly green, and from their view a large city could be seen at the north east of where they currently are.

It took them a while before they passed enough time to consider what future awaits them in the surface. Asgore faced back at all the monsters that had seen the outside world, and made an announcement. “Everyone, as much as how excited we are to start living on the surface, we will delay our move to the surface. I will need all our construction workers to be at top shape for tomorrow, as well as our resource suppliers. We will make a new city on the surface for every one of us to live in!” It cheered the crowd when Asgore made that speech, and it seems that it lightened his weight. As eager as the monsters to go to the surface, they had to return underground and prepare the resources they have to build their own home outside. The king of monsters, Asgore will lead the construction plan. Undyne and her royal guard units will be in charge of the heavy lifting as well as the safety of all other monsters. Alphys went to her laboratory to make use of her old blueprints she had designed back then, and modify them to create stable homes in the surface.

Meanwhile, just outside Mt. Ebott, there were two spectators who were on a top of a tree, staring at the mountain side. “Mt. Ebott, huh…?” a male warrior in armor speaking through his helmet while he stares at it, behind him is a bladed spear. “We haven’t checked this perimeter yet, brother.” The female rogue in her assassin clothing replied. There was no reply from the warrior; it must be a deep thought for him. But then, as he spaces out, his companion lightly bumps his helmet to snap him back to reality. He looks back at her and nodded thanks. She smiles back, even with a veil covering her mouth. They proceed in making a move.

Papyrus, Sans and Toriel stayed at the exit with Frisk as they watched the sun sets, recollecting all the moments that happened underground. Meanwhile, the two had snuck their way to the top by the edges of the Cliffside and made their move. As they got closer, the rogue one saw Frisk from afar. She took the lead as the warrior followed. Even though the warrior had heavy-looking weights all over his body, he had no trouble keeping up his pace with his fast moving companion. The moon has finally appeared and they have lost track of time, “Let’s go home, everyone.” Toriel suggest as she was about to hold the human’s hand.

As the rogue peeks in closer, the sight of Frisk being with the monsters made her call, the warrior knew what to do, then. Out of nowhere, a bladed spear flew towards them. Separating the Frisk and Toriel, they were caught off guard. Papyrus readied his bones to deflect any ranged attacks. But there was none, instead the attacker launched himself to a frontal assault from the cliff side. It was a human soldier, wearing iron plates and helmet. He crashed through the bones Papyrus made, as the soldier bolted towards the weapon. Toriel successfully hits her opponent with fireball magic, and in receiving it, he didn't flinch. Sans shifted his eyes into his left socket and was spouting a barrage of bones from the ground like a wave. It was slowing down the soldier as he tried to avoid getting hit. Upon confusion, he brought out his Gaster Blasters and rammed it towards the opponent from the side.

The warrior collided to the wall and was pinned down. As he was about to stand, Papyrus puts up blue bones around him, and before Sans launched the beam, he stopped to see that Frisk was within range. If he were to continue, the human child would be caught along with it. In that short momentum, the soldier saw an opportunity and push himself from the ground, jumping off the bones and using the blaster as a platform, he was able to recover his weapon as he swings it with a warning, separating the monsters and Frisk.  He grabs hold of her as he pointed his spear, “Don’t hurt my child!” Toriel begged as she called off her fire magic.  In her worries, she looked at Papyrus; he had no choice but to call off his bones, but Sans wasn’t backing out. “i ain’t letting you take our buddy.”

He had prepared two more blasters charging its beam behind the opponent. As the warrior was caught off guard by the shadow growing in front of him, he looked back and saw the Blasters. He lost his grip on Frisk and was caught in a confusion; Sans wouldn't do something reckless unless he had a plan in mind. He knew what was going to happen next. But something happened, Frisk happened. She could’ve fled, but instead. She pulled him away from the beams, and because the warrior was caught in a confusion he was easily pulled away by a young child.

Frisk didn’t expect to pull him that hard as they both fell on their backs, and seeing how the blaster made a hole to the ground, he did it intentionally. Sans charged with a concentrated fire. Sans had already impaled the blue bones unto the soldier’s chest while using his power to separate Frisk from him. “You’ll have a bad time if you move.” He said grinning, the soldier immediately figured what the skeleton was implying; he doesn't feel any pain as long as he doesn't move. It was all checkmate for him. But Sans noticed something about him that irritated him; the look on his eyes were too determined to give up. Even in a situation where he could be easily killed, his determination is at its peak. Frisk knew very well what makes him determined, and then it occurred to her that he was never alone to begin with. The warrior nodded, and it was a signal. Frisk called out to the warrior, “No, please don’t—! “

Another attacker had jumped towards danger, and this time it was a female-figured hooded rogue with daggers. Her movements were fast that it was almost a blur. She went behind Papyrus and pointed daggers unto his neck. It suddenly became a trade-off. “Let him go, and I’ll spare your skeleton friend.” She said fiercely. Sans looked back, more irritated than ever. It was de ja vu, he saw a scenario similar like this but the outcomes were different. Even after that struggle with one human, another one had to appear and make things more difficult.

With sans seeing his brother in danger, he had no choice. Unless he wants to see the previous outcome, he had no choice but to let go of the metal soldier. He moved his hands up, as he stopped his eye from glowing, as he thought ‘I’m sorry, Tori, I don’t want to lose my brother.’ The blue bones sunk to the ground, and the opponent is now able to move. He was about to pick up the child and leave, along with the rogue.

                Frisk had no other choice but to make a move on her own accord. For everyone’s sake. She inhaled and shouted to everyone, “Please stop this right now!” Everyone's attention was to Frisk, seeing her stand up for the monsters. The rogue and warrior stopped what they were doing. The rogue had let go of Papyrus and went to aid the warrior. As both stood side to side, they suddenly bow down like and facing down like knights with a code of honor, towards Frisk with no hesitation.

"My lady, we have come for you." the rogue said as if she was a servant. Sans got confused as he rubbed his head when the word ‘my lady’ was used. Papyrus and Toriel looked at Frisk in confusion. The warrior continued, “It is not safe here, your highness. Your Father, the king has ordered us to locate and escort you back to the palace.”

“Those used terms…” Toriel was thinking, and both her and Sans thought in unison. “Frisk was a princess?!” Papyrus followed with a confused Nyeh!? In response, Frisk made it clear to them that they are not a threat, but more likely friends. To prove that much, she went to Toriel and hugged her. “My child, if you only told us that you will be having friends to come over, we would have not panicked.” She brushed Frisk’s hair in comfort. Sans is keeping his guard up, “but i think these two are more than just your buddies, kid.” Frisk shook her head in response.

The thought took time to process, as both looked at each other. And when it did, they stood up and stepped back in shock as if an anime couple were shocked. “What?!” as they look at each other while their bodies were shaking, the look in their movements expressed a lot of meaning, but ‘She befriended monsters? That’s Impossible!’ was the only thing screaming in Toriel’s mind. Frisk and Toriel looked at one another and then laughed at how they were dumbfounded by what happened. The child faced them while the monster held her hand that they don’t need to be too formal in front of her friends.

The two humans were rubbing the back of their heads in feeling awkward about that as Toriel chuckled. It was getting late and there is no progress as to what is happen if they stay out for too long. Since it was a big misunderstanding, Toriel had invited the two to join the monsters underground. The rogue and warrior looked at each other with doubt. They are acting too cautious, as they looked back at them with no other words and then they both look at Frisk. In response to their actions, she clarified to them that they will be staying for dinner. They both bowed down at the same time, “As you wish, your Highness.” Inside her head she was screaming her lungs out while she covered her face with both hands. It was so embarrassing, Toriel chuckled again.

Sans tapped his elbow unto her shoulders and said “Man, Frisk. You sure had a couple of **bone heads** to deal with” with a humorous gesture. “Oh my God, Sans!” Papyrus replied as he held his head to cover his earholes. Toriel laughed and said, “My child, let’s go home. I’ll make pies for everyone. Including your friends.” The two had no choice but to follow. ‘They might have acted goofy in the end but they are still more capable in combat’ Sans thought as they walked back underground. With the events happening, Frisk knew that she had a lot to explain. To both humans and monsters. It was going to be a long night for everyone.

 

* * *

 

At the ruins, a lot of noise echoed from above. Asriel woke up on top of the wilting flowers, “Oh, my head.” The goat child murmured as he scratched it. It’s been almost 12 hours now and he still did not revert back to a flower. “I… I’m still… me?” as he felt an energy pulsating inside him. He should have reverted back into a flower, and something’s not right. He could hear something from the outside.

_“My my, I can sense power strong enough for a good reset.”_

The scheming tone of voice, as playful as it is deceitful. Flowey’s voice echoed within the darkness. Hidden from sight, as it continued.

_“I wonder what you’re going to do with that determination you have right now, it would be good to test it out with a reset, or maybe you should try unleashing your powers to the surface. After all, you broke the barrier. Only you can bring peace to the remaining monsters who suffered their time living underground.”_

“What do you mean by that, Flowey?” Asriel asked out loud, looking around to find it. As weird as it may be for him to be talking to himself, when it does that playful tone, it means that there’s a scheme at play. It also served as a plot for trouble.

_“Golly Asriel. Did you forget your ‘little plan’? **YOU LITTLE IDIOT.** Going all soft just because of the human forgave you. But have you ever consider it yourself that what YOU did to be something forgivable? I don’t think so, and you don't as well.” _

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Asriel scratched his elbow while looking away.

 _Flowey appearing from the shadows with a monstrous face, appearing in front of Asriel “Look at me when I **TALK TO YOU.** ” _a sudden face shift from Flowey from the small irritating flowey to a monstrous face. He fell on his back, consumed with fear. Vines were extending from the ground, slowly gripping Asriel’s limbs to restrain him as the flower hissed.

 _“That’s better. Asriel, **I’M GOING TO TAKE BACK MY BODY NOW.**”  _with a following sinister laughter as the vines' grip started to tightened. “No, please don’t. Get away from me. Mom, Dad, Chara, Frisk!” Asriel cried for mercy as he struggled while Flowey enjoyed him beg. _“And nobody came, too bad— “_ without warning a beam from above nearly hit the evil flower. It was Sans’ Gaster blaster firing from outside as the sound of struggle echoed.

 _“What are those Idiots doing up there?!”_ distracted while losing grip of Asriel’s arms. It didn’t stop itself from tightening its grip even further on the lower part of his body. Another vine whipped towards the goat child’s neck, beginning to strangle the life out of him. Coming from outside, he heard Frisk’s voice. “Please stop this right now!” The two shifted their attention above when they heard her say stop, with that Flowey turned around to look if he’s the one being referred.

                It wasn’t clear as to who she was referring to, but in her response it gave Asriel a sudden burst of Determination. He started to struggle free, and Flowey couldn’t seem to restrict him any longer. “ _What is this?_ ” A sudden rush of energy gave the him enough strength to break free, and out of nowhere his hands were glowing bright. It shone too bright that drove the evil flower to flee. The light slowly went dim, from a spark to nothing.

He was just as surprised as Flowey, as he looked at his palms Asriel asked, “What is going on?”

 

…To be continued

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ro-kun here. I'm here writing a possible AU extension of Undertale because I was inspired by two soundcloud voice actor named CyberneticPinkeye, the guy who voiced Flowey in the most twisted menacing way possible, and Lumisau(Darcy Maguire), the one who had voiced everyone's favorite goat child, Asriel (I have to admit, the character voicing literally met my standards, as well as the ones who voiced Asgore by Jaramo, Toriel by BoneGirLii, and Alphys by Chi-Chi.) Their work gave me an idea that might become a possibility. (emphasis on 'Possibility')
> 
> With different Alternative Universes of the game story being made from the moment the human fell underground to when they get to the surface, why not make one that could happen afterwards? There had also been a lot of possible outcomes that were very good that I suddenly had a strange idea, that sprouting out of nowhere while listening to the voice acting of Flowey.
> 
> Given the situation, I've earned enough determination to piece this work like a puzzle. And if you enjoyed this one, expect more to come. Let's just hope the writer's determination bar doesn't bleak empty in the middle. Oh, and if you guys wanna listen to the mentioned names, just look them up on Soundcloud and listen to their work.
> 
> [Update note]  
> I thought the summary was to point out the entire thing. My bad.


	2. Untold stories (part two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun updating one chapter at a time.

Asriel was in shock after Flowey attacked. Thinking about it, he was attacked by himself out of the shadows despite that he is the one and only. The more he thought, the more he confused himself until his stomach rumbled. He’s alive again, it would be natural to grow hungry. He left the bed of flowers and ventured into the ruins. There was a bowl in one room, but it had nothing in it.

                As he walked passed the remaining monsters, he noticed that they were acting strange, their look towards Asriel were awful as their eyes were glowing in red. Maybe because he was new to the ruins, or maybe they’re also hungry. Asriel didn’t consider giving any more attention them, but they did.

                The monsters became hostile to Asriel, that even Froggit and Whimsun were giving him a hard time. He tried dodging all of them, but more were swarming at him and the attacks were growing faster the more he stays still. So he recalled what Frisk did to get them to stop fighting. It should work, since it worked for her.

                They attacked nonetheless what he did should have stopped them. Loox smacked Asriel in the face while he was dodging Vegetoid’s aggressive attacks, his right palm was brushed off in Loox’s skin. A sudden glimmer of light from its back shone and Loox’s eye stopped glowing. As he fell on the ground, he slowly regained his senses and stood up. Then, later on, he noticed something.

“Huh, what was I doing?” Loox asked. It looked around and the other monsters were still hostile. Now, their attention is on Loox. “Please don’t pick on me!” it pleaded, Asriel went up front to protect Loox. Whatever he did to snap the monster back to his senses, he needs to do it again.

                Froggit lashed his tongue like a whip, and when it struck Asriel’s arm he thought that he could pull him. Instead, Asriel pulled the frog to him, and then slapped the frog monster to get off of him. Something shone from behind, and when Froggit stood back up, “Ribbit! Ribbit?” (Oh, hello. Are you new to the ruins?) it asked and looked curious.

                Next up was Whimsun, she was going to make something appear but Asriel grabs hold of her before she could actually do something. As he lets go, she was flying out of balance and then he caught her. When she regained her consciousness, she immediately apologized. “Ahh, I’m sorry.” It flew down and bowed its head.

                Asriel seem to have realized that he gained some sort of new power, and then in the middle of a ruckus he went up to strike down Moldsmal, thinking that it would stop it from attacking, but in his action he made slime splash unto his arm. Its center stopped glowing and slugged away. “Eyek!” Asriel was grossed out for doing that, as he went to the wall with vines and wiped his hand there.  He considers not going far to do that again. The remaining monsters were Vegetoid and Migosp. Once again, the vegetable monster fired a barrage of attacks. Almost pinning him down, he took one and threw it back to the attacker as hard as he could. Vegetoid got hit in the forehead, and was quickly dazed. In that momentum, he quickly rammed himself towards it, and the impact sent it towards the wall. It fell down on the ground, and to Asriel’s realization, he went too far with that tackle. He decided to grab the big vegetable monster and helped it back up.

                It floated up and wandered what happened. As for Migosp. He just danced a little and smiled, “I’ll just be leaving.” The nerve of that monster, its eyes weren’t glowing at all. In fact, he only acted hostile to fit in with the other monsters. In response to that, Asriel smacked Migosp in the face, making it spin and fall on the floor. It stood up while something glowed behind him. There was a pellet-size spark that immediately disappeared just at its back. Asriel spared all of them, and for the troubles, they gave him 6 gold and left.

                “What a crazy night. Man I’m starving!” He said to himself, with 6 gold he should be able to at least buy something to eat. Passing through, he saw a sign with pictures of spiders and food. He read, “Put 7 gold on the web for a spider donut.” The other web mentioned spider cider for 24 gold, but he’s not allowed to drink that stuff yet.

                Snapping his finger for missing one more gold to get a spider donut, another monster appeared behind him. “Why hello, dearie.” Dropping down from the ceiling, it was Muffet. Holding a bunch of teacups and teapots as if she’s going to give Asriel a tea. “What seems to be the matter?” she asked. Asriel scratched his head, “I want to buy a donut, but I only have 6 gold.”

                “Not to worry, dearie. I can give you a discount.” Asriel handed his 6 gold to Muffet, and she gave him two spider donuts. “Thank you very much!” he said sincerely. Muffet gestured her generosity with humbleness. He takes a bite at the donut, and it was strangely crunchy. He looks at it and there were spiders inside. His eyes widen, he wants to spit it out. But with Muffet looking, he had to smile away as he moved forward, despite that the legs were hanging out of his teeth. “Where you going, dearie?” She asked, stopping him from moving on.

Desperately thinking of an alibi to get away, Asriel replied “I’m going to the monster capital. I want to meet someone there.” He gestured his hand up while holding the donut. Muffet was looking at him with suspicion. But disregards that thought after extending one of her arms to offer a handshake, Asriel put the other donut in his pocket as he gave his. “It was nice meeting you.” Asriel said, Muffet gave him a smile. After their hands touched, he noticed something shone from the back of her head. Her eyes weren’t glowing, but she had the same effects like the other monsters. If she were to be hostile like the other monsters, then this would have been a boss fight for him. At least that didn’t happen, he thought.

After moving to another area, he was about to spit away what he ate. But overtime, they were tasty. And the fact that the spider lady offered him a discount, he should be thankful. He ate his donut but kept the other. Going through places, he noticed a familiar place. It looked like his home, as he went inside there was no nobody there.

It was all too similar to his home, but why is it at the ruins? That spider donut didn’t completely fill him up, so he checked the kitchen and a smell of butterscotch pie lingered within the room. Toriel must’ve cooked something there before she left. Opening the fridge, there was one whole pie with a sliced piece. Luckily, there was also milk at the side.

He prepared his own meal and joined his hands together. “Thanks for the meal!” He washed the dishes and went to his room. Surprisingly, his pajamas were there. And he hadn’t grown too big for them. Going to bed after the exhausting events, he was about to fall asleep. Frisk’s scent lingered in his room as he heard a familiar voice. It was faint, and before he understood what was said, he fell asleep.

* * *

 

At the new home, also known as the castle Asgore lives in, Toriel and Frisk were at the kitchen, preparing plates and forks as the pie cools off from the oven. The skeleton brothers and the other two humans sitting in two different sofas, facing each other. They were glaring at each other. Sans is still smiling but his eye was glowing brighter the longer he stares; Papyrus was getting ready to defend just in case the two humans make the first move.

The armored warrior was staring at Sans quietly with blood boiling and tension rising, as he was waiting for them to attack. He’d already assumed that the monsters were waiting as well, but he needed to be patient. The rogue on the other hand was looking at the taller skeleton, getting ready to disarm. The room was getting hotter as Gaster Blasters were charging up, the armored one was emitting a heated aura and was getting ready to pull out his bladed spear. The other two are still focusing at each other. In obvious cases, all that needs to happen is for one of them to attack, and hell will run wild in the large living room. As much as Sans wanted to respect Toriel’s previous home as the supposedly expensive looking furniture and vases were at display, as well as a covered picture frames, if he lowers his guard even for one quarter second, it’s game over for them.

The two humans had also taken consideration of not going so far as to destroy someone else’s home and possessions, as it looked too civilized for it to become the base of the royal family of monsters. Hearing Frisk and Toriel’s footsteps getting close, everyone stopped making suspicious movements; Sans made his blasters disappear and the warrior lets go of his spear sheathed behind him as he dropped both hands unto his legs. As if the two skeletons were to be seen battle-ready, Toriel will be the one bringing hell in her own home with no regrets. For the rogue and warrior, they cannot disobey what Frisk mentioned while they were on their way to the castle.

                Frisk told both of the two to stop what they were doing. She could feel the tension from both since the room became hotter than the kitchen. As much as the two does not want to disobey the person they will serve in the future, they need to ensure that it’s not all false impressions. Frisk was leading with plates and forks, as Toriel followed with a big pan of Butterscotch Pie. The rogue jolted towards Frisk and wanted to assist her, but she refused otherwise. Sans wanted to do the same for Toriel, but she was too pre-occupied with the unnecessary tension in the room.

                “I’m sorry that we need to use the castle instead of my home at the ruins. But it’s already 9:00 in the evening and it will tire out everyone if we are to travel to my house.” Toriel apologized as she prepared the pie in the middle of the coffee table while Frisk readied the plates. The armored one was watching Frisk placed them as if she finally learned how to prepare things the right way. But of course, thinking that will also lead to unnecessary imagination: Frisk acting as a servant to those who are lower than her. He shook his head as he tried to forget what he imagined. ‘Exiled for underestimation; Executed for treason.’ He thought to clear his mind.

                Frisk looked at him with curiosity, as she brought her head closer to him. Naturally, he should avoid her being too close, as he is only a soldier and a servant to her family, who could be disposed at any time, but he didn’t. Toriel seated next to Sans, as she asked them to take off their helmet and veil. As Frisk moved away to sit next to Toriel, they had no choice but to do so. The warrior revealed himself to be fairly tanned with dark red fairly short hair, nearly black to the eyes of commoners. The rogue also had the same complexity as the warrior with longer hair, but she looked like a maiden. Both looked old enough to be called brothers and sisters. It was understood for both of them to introduce themselves to the monsters, as they assumed Frisk would ask.

                Revealing both their appearances, Frisk felt her sins were crawling on her back. There was no mistaking it. “My names is Rance Vor, the royal guard of the north and right hand agent of King Farlon.” The warrior introduced, “My name is Dianne Vor, the messenger and assistant of the royal guard of the north.” Both spoke in unison.

“We served as Frisk’s bodyguards and we’re here to take her home.”

                But the child did not agree. They were not only bodyguards, but also the King’s personal babysitters. And to an extent, she couldn’t run away with the two on patrol. In her past experience, not only was she caught trying to act on her accord, she was caught red handed by Rance, who immediately took action as carried her home. Thinking about it, he can also maneuver with heavy armor attachments. She only had one chance of getting away, and that was when they were attending in an important meeting few days ago.

                Sans joked as he his eye sockets closed, “For the two royal guards such as yourself, you did a good job keeping an eye for the kid.” He jested his hands just below the shoulders, as his right eye appeared staring at them. Papyrus would have blown away by his brother’s terrible pun, but he was having a glorious thought when he heard the title, ‘Royal guard’.

                Rance didn’t crack a smile, “What, giving us the cold shoulders? What happened to the duet?” Dianne was first to get irritated as she stood with her fists clenched swinging downwards, “Don’t jest with us. You didn’t have the stomach to finish the job after I pointed knives at— “she was interrupted with Rance’s hand raised, frowned with tension. Embarrassed, she sat down thinking of what she did. The warrior had maintained his composure, as Sans was clearly affected with what the rogue mentioned. “Frisk. Have you ever considered how much your father extended to look for you?” he said in a low tone of voice while looking at the child. Frisk looked away, making her think what she did was regretful. But meeting the monsters gave her determination to try to reason back, but before she was able to do that.

                “more than half of the soldiers, and all the royal guards.” He mentioned. The king must be desperate to look for his lost daughter. But who wouldn’t do that? A parent will always do drastic measures in order to find their lost child. Frisk didn’t think of the consequences when she left home. She felt guilty for her act of selfishness, and worse happened when Rance finished it, “—with him leading.”

                Toriel understood that concept, and since it’s been two days since she arrived at the underground, she could imagine how worried her true father was. Out of nowhere, Rance’s left eye started to drop tears. “You know how worried we all were when you disappeared for three whole days?” showing concern, it gave everyone a painful sympathy.

Frisk stood up and retorted back to Rance, “Why did I run away? Do you really think that I would be happy to see my own father not feel remorse after what happened to my mom?!” Toriel looked at her in concern, she just mentioned her own mother. Frisk continued as she tries to hold back her own tears. “He didn’t feel anything when she died. And he didn’t comfort me like what most fathers would do!” Rance went silent for a moment, in his case he could tell that she’s not finished. Dianne tries to intervene, but Rance raised his hand again to stop her. Frisk thanked him as she continued with her story.

                When she wanted to play outside, she was forbidden. Whenever she meets other kids, she was taken back to her home immediately. Her mother is the only one taking care of her, as she played games with her in her free time, seldom with her two bodyguards. But because of work, they were given strict commands only to protect her. Dianne understood what she wanted to point out: Her mother was the only one giving Frisk comfort when she needed it the most, and felt sad for not being able to give sufficient time to play with the princess. King Farlon doesn’t want his daughter to grow up acting like a child, but her mother knows how to reason with him. When her mom passed away due to an illness, the very little freedom she had left was taken away from her, and felt lonelier. To make matters worse, it gave her father an opportunity to educate her with the royal ways. Frisk hated that as she resented her family tree.

                In one opportunity, her guards were attending a meeting that Frisk didn’t understood. She wouldn’t care, and snuck away from the capital. She ran away from her fated responsibilities as the princess and future queen of the country. Ending up in a mountain she heard from her mother’s tale. Mt. Ebbott. She didn’t think of the risk, she only wanted to be free. She threw away her regards to become a simple child who doesn’t have anything to do with politics, and family tradition.

                As she stopped talking about what she felt, everyone in the room felt sadness for her. Toriel hugged the child as if her own as she comforts her, “There, there. My child. I will not let you leave, for as long as you want.” Sans was already eating the pie and as he chewed, “Kid. That’s rough. But it’s all up to you whether you want to stay or not. I’ll always root for you.” He looked sideways, thinking of something else.

                Papyrus was sobbing, and as if it was de ja vu, Sans bothered to pat his brother at the back and asked “Hey Pap. What did you catch this time?” He replied crying “MORE TEARS.” Seeing the monsters care and support Frisk made Rance lose his determination in getting her home. She didn’t know the situation she put up with her home capital, or maybe she doesn’t need to know. It is understood that it will be her choice to stay or not, and in their circumstance he shouldn’t mention the penalty he will receive if he does. The warrior wiped his tears with his hands knuckled, forgetting that his gauntlet is metallic, wounded his left cheek near the eye.

                “Brother, your— “Dianne wanted to point out that Rance’s face was bleeding, but he raised his hand once more to stop her from saying anything else. He dropped his hand and stood up from the sofa, moved at the side and faced the child, and kneeled with his hands and his forehead touching the ground, and begged for the last time. “Frisk, please reconsider. I’m begging you, we can talk to your father about your circumstances. Your country needs you, your father needs you. He is only doing what he can so that you will grow up as a fine young lady.” His voice was trembling, and from that everyone can tell that he was trying not to cry in desperation. “Your father couldn’t remorse… for the loss of your mother because of his condition. H-he doesn’t want anyone else to know about his c-condition.” That got her attention, and it seems that he’s ready to open that topic up. She thought that it might be an act for her to give pity and a reason to go back, so she listened carefully.

                Rance did not stand up from his position and could only say much without stuttering while he cries on the floor. Dianne took over and explained, “We noticed that he wasn’t his usual self in the previous months. When the royal guards took notice, they all asked the king personally. The king had sent all of his other guards, and servants outside of the throne room and into the hallway. So that no one could eavesdrop.” They all assumed that it was a private matter for him to act that way. But what he said was something no one was ready to hear.

                The king and queen, and the royal guards were the only ones who were in the throne room. The king had said that his heart condition has becoming more fatal the more time had passed. The queen knew of his condition, but did not spoke of the situation. Frisk wasn’t aware of it because she was at her room, studying and sleeping it off in boredom. The royal guards were eager to help the king in recovering his health back to normal, there were many suggestions, from drinking herbal tea to having a doctor give a recommendation of medicine. But with each recommendation, the guards’ suggestion clashed and only made an uproar that their voices colliding with each other could be heard outside. The king slammed his hands with each other to make a loud clap, and thanked them for worrying for his welfare. He continued with the question, “But if everyone knew of my condition, wouldn’t that create an uproar and confusion for the people outside of this room?” Everyone grew silent, their action was the proof of what the king was trying to point out as the queen comforted her husband. “No one should know of my condition, until I get better…”

“And until Frisk had mature enough to bear it.” The king gave that statement as his final, before dismissing them from the throne room. The king of their era is as fair and kind as he is different. He wanted to make peace with everyone, despite their appearances, gender or race. He also wanted to show that his will cannot be destroyed by illness or loss of a family member. But after what happened to his wife and following of his daughter’s disappearance, he could only endure much. That is why he sent out a battalion to look for his lost child, so that he could show how much he cared. He doesn’t want to lose her daughter for what he did. Dianne finished explaining what she learned and understood from her point of view, and Frisk tightened her hands almost to a fist. “Why…?” she asked the two. “...Why are you going so far as to take me back home…?” she was bursting in tears, and Rance cleared his throat while he weeps on the floor. “…Because….” He tries to reply, and then Dianne followed… “Because…”

“…Of all the Royal families that lived throughout history… In serving the people... Your family is the fairest of them all…”

They said in unison. Rance became quiet as he never stood up from his bow. They were sincere; Papyrus, Sans, and Toriel could tell from the look in her eyes that she isn’t lying. Frisk isn’t ready to go back home, but she isn’t ready to lose her father, not like this. Everyone in the royal guard cared and loved Frisk and her family that the king showed that he could be as fair as he is kind, to show how concerned they are, and for one of them beg and kneel in humiliation. All that is making her decisions conflict, and at this time, only she could make a choice. Will she go home and leave the monsters for good, or will she stay and let fate decide her people’s fate? [Go home] [Stay]

 

To be continued…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Ro-kun. I'm sorry for having delays, but with given time I will be able to finish Chapter 3 in 4 days less. 
> 
> Am I a fast writer? Yes, especially when the story clings in your head.  
> Did I hesitate to write part two? No, but with the events happening, I was delayed.


	3. The Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun updates another chapter. Because the next chapter is on Hiatus, I need to double check all my work before I begin with the next one. Hehehe :D

Dianne and Rance, the two humans who attacked the monsters in order to save the King’s child, Frisk, are now at the mercy of her decision whether she stays with the monsters or go back to her home. It would be obvious that she would stay with the monsters, Rance assumed as they show better affection and care for Frisk more than her own family and household. But Dianne wanted to believe that she would make the right choice for her father.

                The king ordered his royal guards to never tell anyone of his condition, even to his child. And they broke that promise, not just to gain little sympathy but also an awareness that her father’s life span is short. Frisk’s choice was in discord in making a decision, and wanted more time, but what will happen if she keeps on delaying? Just when she was going to make a choice, a voice echoed in her head the words the monsters had told her when she saved them from the God of Hyperdeath’s grasp. Frisk is the future for both humans and monsters, and staying with the monsters would make her people in grief. She told Rance to raise his head and look at her.

[Seeing his bodyguard showing his resolve to do whatever it takes has filled her with Determination.]

She has made a choice to go home… in two conditions. Frisk wanted to have her own free time and space without being restricted by her father’s chain of command, and she wanted to bring her friends along. In her thinking, her father wanted to make peace with the monsters, but after some events it might not be possible. Asgore and Toriel will be presenting themselves to show that they want to make peace with the humans. And to make things easier for Rance and Dianne when they are holding complicated meetings, Papyrus, Sans and Undyne will be in charge of looking after her.

“Geez kid, you thought things through.” Sans implied after putting away his plate back on the table. Only because after staying with Dr. Alphys when they watched anime, it proven to be the same scenario, and Sans was watching them close by. Both humans and monsters had come to an agreement, and the gloom in the warrior’s face had brightened as he stood up with relief off his shoulders. “Frisk. Thank you.”

More than thankful, he made swore to himself to never let her down again. He smiled when he said, “When we’re on duty of looking after you, you get to decide what you want to do.” With a grin. It was like Asgore when she chose to spare him in one run. Frisk smiles back and mentioned that his grin reminded her of ‘King Asgore’

                Toriel disagrees. “Asgore is nothing like young Rance.” As he suddenly rubbed his head shied away when he was called ‘Young Rance’. Dianne once again reminded her brother that he was wearing an unsafe gauntlet. Toriel was married to King Asgore, but separated when he became enraged for what they did to their one and only child. She left with no proper explanation and blames him for the death of the 6 following human kids. “He’s the monster of all monsters, lowly and despicable. He would do whatever it takes to get to the surface to kill every single human.” Toriel clenched her hands.

                “YOU MEAN KING DREAMER? HE’S A TOTAL PUSHOVER. HE WOULDN’T EVEN HURT A FLY.” Papyrus exclaimed with a cheery smile. “HE’S A GOOD GUY. HE EVEN GAVE ME A SET OF COOKING UTENSILS FOR ME TO BECOME THE GREATEST CHEF SPAGHETTOIRE.” Originally, those were Toriel’s extra cooking utensils the king was giving to her in apology for his actions. But she threw them away in front of him and left. It was indeed a shock for the king as he sulked on the ground, with light monsters giving him an awkward spotlight. Dianne understood what Papyrus meant by Spaghettoire as she slightly covered her mouth when she chuckled.

                Sans agreed with Papyrus about realizing his brother’s dream, but he knew very well what Toriel is implying. Just when Toriel was about to continue talking, they heard footsteps from the hallway. Three different footsteps approaching the room they were in. To their surprise, it was King Asgore himself, accompanied by Dr. Alphys, the royal scientist of the underground, and Undyne, the head of the royal guard of the underground. They were wearing a different attire with mud stains on their shirts, leggings and hands. Even in Undyne’s boots and Asgore’s feet. They look like a group of messy construction workers who got down on the mud. What made the moment more awkward than their messy appearance was the human’s expectation of the king. Asgore’s shirt was light pink stained with mud and sweat, and his construction hat had flower highlights instead of a cross; when he approached the humans, he greeted with a smile a slight wave of hand and said, “Howdy.”

                “HI, KING ASGORE. WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT YOU.” Papyrus greeted with a brimming smile. Sans waved his hand while eating another serving of pie, and Toriel did not respond as she looked away. The king was rather hurt, but when he looked at himself, he realized how messy he was. He looked back and saw a trail of muddy footprints. Rance had no comment with the king, he proceeded into looking at the other two. The other looked a fish-humanoid monster with an eye patch, and she seem to be having a good conversation with—

                Rance suddenly stopped and looked at the other monster. It was a reptilian, and she seem to stutter when she talks with the other one. His blood starts to boil as he had an unnecessary flashback. When Alphys felt like she was being watched and looked at the warrior standing, she was immediately intimidated. Dianne stood up and pulled him back to the couch to make things look less complicate. Rance came to his senses and he suddenly covered his face. Dianne could remember that fateful day, and Alphys making an appearance made him remember. Asgore didn’t give noticed of what was happening as he ordered the other two to take a bath. They went ahead, with Alphys looking worried. That other human is bad news for her.

                “Everyone. Want to see a magic trick?” The king suggests. Dianne and Frisk nodded slightly in agreement, Papyrus was clapping as he faced his brother, who yet again finished another serving of pie. The king walked towards the vase near the fireplace, he moves his fingers around like he was going to cast magic. What Frisk knows is that he can cast fire magic, but why would Asgore suddenly want to fire up a vase? Unexpectedly, he pulled out a bathroom towel from the inside of a vase. Frisk clapped happily with Papyrus, and Dianne was impressed. But he’s not over yet.

                Asgore spins the sheet until it covers him mid-air, and then suddenly the mud stains on him disappeared. He stopped spinning and held each end of the towel, he flips it and shows that the stain passed from him to his sheet. “WOW, YOUR MAJESTY. HOW DID YOU DO THAT?” Papyrus eagerly asked. Asgore folds the sheet to prevent the mud stains from dripping and answered, “Mr. Gerson taught me how.”

                “GOLLY, I WANT HIM TO TEACH ME SO THAT I CAN CLEAN UP—OH MY GOD SANS!!!” Everyone turned their attention to him, putting away his plate, with the tray of pie cleaner than Asgore. He burped and put his hand on his pocket, following with a loud fart sound. Papyrus stood up, taking his plate of pie with him as he run towards the fireplace near the king. “hehehe. what? i also had a magic trick, and it was making the pie disappear without a trace.” Toriel was laughing and said to everyone that she will make one more pie if everyone finished theirs. “Uhm. Tori, can I have a pie?” Asgore asked, and for unwanted reasons. Out of character, she took her slice of pie by hand and threw it unto Asgore’s face. She was unreasonably angry to do that, that Frisk wasn’t mentally prepared to see that. On top of that, she stomped towards the kitchen with no reply to him, while the king with a mess on his face, fell on his knees and looked like he was about to cry.

That came out of nowhere. Does she really hate him that much? Dianne took pity unto the king and took off her detachable hoodie. Approaching Asgore slowly, she used her hoodie to wipe off the mess on his face. “Thank you, human.” He said with gratitude as he tries to stop himself from crying.

                Papyrus puts down his plate on the floor away from Sans and took off his short cape, as he assisted in cleaning off Asgore. Frisk was looking at Dianne; it has been some time since she last saw someone do that. Rance was trying to process what just happened in his mind so that she could very well understand why Toriel hated Asgore. They looked similar and the way Asgore calls her was like a couple’s nickname. Why does she hate him so much? He had a lot to think about as he rubs his index finger unto his chin. After Papyrus finished helping, he turned his attention to his slice, he decided to give his share to cheer him up, but he declined. It’s not that he’s not hungry anymore, but after what happened, he can’t afford to eat it in front of Toriel again. The king of monsters stood up from the floor and asked, “May I join you on the couch?”.

“… I don’t mind.” Rance moved over to the side to give space for the king. Dianne sat next to the monster instead of her brother, and introduced both their names because Rance was too busy thinking of something. Papyrus joined his brother and Frisk, and they explained their story as to why they are in the king’s home. Toriel on the other hand, while mixing the ingredients was sobbing alone. “Why… did I do that?” Her eyes were flickering blue lights, but she didn’t give notice.

In the bathroom, both monsters had finish taking a bath and started to dry off with towels. They don’t necessarily have spare clothes with them, so they borrowed spared bathroom robes with the initials T and A. Undyne took the one with the letter T, and Alphys took the other. When Undyne opened the bathroom door, Alphys hesitated to walk. “What’s wrong?” Undyne asked her. “I… uh… think the armored human hates me…” nervous to say, she expects her to ask why. It bothered Alphys that a newcomer looked at her with pure anger and hatred. She had thought that not all humans are all bad, but that doesn’t mean that some humans can be as good as Frisk. Undyne didn’t took that lightly. She grabbed Alphys’ shoulders and confronted her. “Was it the armored human?!” She was about to tell Undyne to forget what she said, but before she could mutter a word, Undyne went out spear blazing. “NGAHHH! WHAT IS THAT HUMAN’S PROBLEM?!” Alphys unintentionally lit a fuse and exploded instantly.

 

At the living room, Sans and Asgore were laughing as Dianne tells them a story. Frisk was begging her stop, while Rance was blushing. He slowly sinks back the helmet he took off a while ago. “So, then. After Frisk’s father appointed Rance as her new bodyguard, Frisk was already making an attempt in going out of the castle. But in a blink of an eye, Rance immediately picked up Frisk and closed the gates. Frisk was so surprised that time, the she nearly wet herself while he carries her back. At that time, Rance didn’t know what to do--” Just when the conversation was getting lively at the living room, an energy spear pierced through the middle of the table, breaking it to a half. “OKAY, WHICH HUMAN HATES ALPHYS?!” Initially, who is Alphys? Second, what is her problem? Dianne made that thought, and while Sans smile around looking like his eye sockets were closed, he pointed at Rance. Undyne did hear that it was ‘an armored human’. She jumps unto the table with another spear at hand, pointing at the warrior. He didn’t bother reacting while he ponders at something, but when Undyne was about to grab Rance’s hair and pull him up, he grabbed her by the wrist before it could even reach a strand, slowly looking up at her with a glare. “What is your problem?” he asked menacingly. She pulled him up, and threw him into the air. Rance balanced himself and landed on his feet. He drew his bladed spear and readies himself for battle.

[Rance is ready for battle against Undyne]

                Undyne launches herself up in the air and extended her free arm; a number of spears had appeared and launched towards him after she snapped her fingers. Rance moved to the side and deflected the spears coming to his direction, as the others had impaled the floor. The last one was Undyne herself, swinging her weapon upwards and using her fall as additional force, while Rance blocked it with his bladed spear sideward with his left arm supporting the rod, like a shield wielder. When she could even land her foot and apply force to drive him back, Rance didn’t hesitate to kicked her, and sent her flying.

Undyne is a skilled warrior with keen observation. She could tell that she’s facing a worthy opponent, he knew how to deflect a barrage of spears without hesitation and immediately move to prevent more from slowing him down. He also knew that if she lets him land on her feet, she could’ve shoved her to a defenseless position that she could strike him down. What struck him odd was that block he just did.

She finished processing her thoughts and landed on her feet. Undyne readied her spear with both hands, ready to charge. Rance was silent, as he equips his right hand to his weapon. A spear duel stance for both fighters. Just when the two were about to make another clash, a red Trident with a flower hilt impaled itself in between, stopping them from proceeding any further. “Now, now. Both of you settle down.” Asgore suggest calmly, while blue balls of fire on his sides suggest the latter. Dianne went to his aid as Rance sheaths his weapon to his back as both looked at Undyne. The other opponent made her weapon disappear as she starts to retort, “NGAHH! I HAVEN’T FELT LIKE THIS SINCE I LAST **FOUGHT FRISK**.”

[The battle stops for now]

Wait, what? This dangerous monster **fought Frisk**? Rance looked at the child with his glare. “Frisk, may I like to confirm to you that you became friends with all the monsters. Correct?” It looks like Undyne said too much, and Frisk slowly nodded.

                Rance didn’t see any lies from her and continued with one last question, and this time he was facing Undyne. “And were you hurt by this thing, right here?” he pointed. Frisk can tell, that if she nodded, shots will be fired and another fight will occur. She shook her head so that the situation wouldn’t be all worse than it already is.

                “Ah, the memories. I remember firing **countless spears** at you when you were running away.” Undyne smirks while cherishing the moments. Toriel happened walk into the room with a finished pie at hand when she heard ‘firing **countless spears** ’ part at Frisk. “You were so fast that you avoided **almost** all of my attacks.” She continued, as much as Frisk wanted to cherish that moment, it was just adding fuel to fire for both the humans. To make it worse, Toriel was right behind Sans on the couch, with flames bursting from her hands and charring the pie she just baked. “Sans… You **did** protect the human, no?”

Sans turned around as the heat prevents him from making a pun. Her flames rival with Asgore, but because of his kind composure, Toriel’s flames outgrew his. Sans was sweating, and looked around to think of a way to escape the situation. Papyrus intervene, adding more to his tab. “HE WAS **SLEEPING** ON DUTY WHEN FRISK WAS BEING CHASED BY UNDYNE.” The tension from before wasn’t nearly as hot as the tension that is happening right now. Sans couldn’t mutter a word, along with Frisk and Undyne, as the three hugged themselves in fear, while Dianne, Rance and Toriel were giving the worst feeling yet. Sans and Undyne weren't afraid of the two humans, before. But with Toriel mixing in, makes all three of them more terrifying.

                Papyrus continued, “BUT IT WORKED OUT IN THE END!” Rance looked at the tall skeleton as he continued. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS PUT UNDYNE A CHALLENGE THAT SHE COULD NEVER BACK DOWN. BECOMING FRIENDS WITH THE HUMAN.” Undyne recalled Papyrus putting her in that situation that fooled her in becoming friends with Frisk. And there was no regret in what happened. “Yeah, we became **BESTIES** after she burned down my house and made me live with Papyrus.” She said smiling, hugging Frisk tighter, along with Sans. Frisk hugged back as tight as possible, and Sans can’t seem to catch a breath.

                “Guys, don’t hug the life out of a skeleton.” He choked, and Undyne lets go of them both. Dianne can tell she wasn’t lying, and Rance calms down for a moment with a sigh. He knew Frisk was a fast delinquent back then, but not much to get in troubled with. Rance approached Frisk and took off his right gauntlet. He rubs his hand towards Frisk’s head, making her hair messy as he smiled, “How did you manage that?” Papyrus was going to mention the other fight with **Mettaton** but Sans stopped him. “Let’s not add any more fuel to the  bonefire.” Papyrus’ smile cracked, only because that pun came out of nowhere. Toriel noticed that her tray was overcooked by her flames that it’s all charred. She goes back to the kitchen, meeting Asgore with a tray, with several teacups and teaspoons, a teapot and a slightly bigger cup with sugar. He must’ve realized that he wouldn’t be able to do anything during the tension, and noticed that none of them had drinks with Toriel’s pie. So he left and went back after everything is solved. “Would anyone want a cup of tea?” most of them nodded, but Toriel can’t seem to react after what she did to him. He offered nonetheless. Everyone else who had their slice of pie had to eat it soon, or else it would be too cold.

                Asgore’s favorite brand of tea, Golden Flower Tea, seemed to have soothe everyone’s stress as they felt relaxation after sipping some. Undyne’s pocket seemed to have vibrated. It must’ve been her phone, as she sipped tea, she checked her phone. It was a text message from Dr. Alphys.

“I’m sorry I didn’t join you guys, but I forgot to safe check and shut down the CORE. Maybe we can call each other later. ;) -Alphys”

She spat her tea in retort. “THAT REMINDS ME, PUNK. WHY DID YOU INTIMIDATE ALPHYS?” she asked the warrior. Rance doesn’t want to give his story, yet. “She reminded me of someone.” He replied as he looked at the depth of his cup. It wasn’t someone to him, it was something. Dianne looked at Rance, as the warrior looks at his cup with sorrow. It was a day none of the two could ever forget.

                The grandfather clock in the hallway dings, indicating that it was already midnight. “Golly, it’s already midnight.” Asgore continued, “Will you humans sleep at the castle?” he offered. He has plenty of room for everyone, but the two humans looked each other in thought. “One of us have to ensure that Frisk is safe.” Dianne said, “While one of us had to report back to the king.” Rance continued. They both jumped off the couch, and it looked like there’s going to be a duel between humans. Undyne assumed that it’s going to be a fight on who goes back up, and who stays. Instead of a battle, what happened next wasn’t something the rest didn’t expect. Both the warrior and the rogue had opened their right palm with their left hand clenched. Both had shouted in unison as the clenched hand hits the palm:

“ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS!”

                Dianne had opened her clenched fist with all fingers and thumb extending, while Rance’s index and middle finger were the only ones extending while the others were closed. “Scissor beats Paper.” Rance mentioned, he raised both hands in victory as Dianne sits down on the floor moping. “I win!” Rance gloats. Dianne stood up and crossed her arms. “Fine~ Just make sure you protect the princess this time.” She reminded with a chuckle. The victory smile he had suddenly turned into a broken smile, as if a cinder block just fell on his head. Their reactions are cartoony for both seasoned warriors. The two, fixed their stance when they heard Frisk chuckle. “How cartoonic.” Sans jested, and Undyne had her eye wide open. Not only because of their movements being like that of a familiar anime, but what Dianne mentioned. Frisk, a princess?! She dreamed of fighting princesses, and without knowing, it already happened.

                Dianne approached King Asgore. “Before I go. Don’t let that old woman get to you.” She said with no restraint as she hugged Asgore out of the blue. The king of monsters didn’t understand, but was flattered that a maiden-like rogue comforted him. He pats her back with his hand, and Dianne let’s go. Toriel’s eyebrow twitched a little after being referred to as ‘old woman’. Little does the rogue know that Toriel was Asgore’s ex-wife. Without hesitation, Dianne reminded Rance of his duties as he nodded. The rogue blurred away, like most agile assassins when they finished delivering their objective to their master and dismissed. Undyne wants to start another round, and this time with Frisk. But Rance forbid her into doing that, Sans also stopped Undyne because Toriel was watching him. They walked up the hallways and into a number of doors.

                Asgore opened up a number of rooms for everyone else to stay in. Fortunately, all of the unused rooms were maintained clean and each rooms had two separate beds. He doesn’t seem to have any subjects cleaning the castle but himself. Toriel wanted a separate room from Asgore, so Undyne decided to sleep with her in the same room. The Papyrus went into the next room with books, and Sans followed. Just before he entered the room, he looked at Frisk and waved, “goodnight, kid.” Chilled as always. Frisk and Rance went to the other room, and he inspected everything. Ensuring that there are no traps. “Not to worry, Rance. I cleaned every room spotless.” That’s not what the warrior had in mind, but the king’s sincerity was appreciated. Frisk went into her bed as she starts to yawn. Rance sat on the side of the bed and took a small box from his chest plate. How does he manage with stuffs on his chest plate? He opened the box and music starts to play.

                Asgore was reminded of how he had a music box playing for his wife and son. When Asgore greets them Good night, Rance says something. “For a king who was just said to be cruel and lowly by your wife, you seem to be a good person.” He smiles with relief. It wasn’t hard to figure it out for Rance the resemblance of both Asgore and Toriel being the same kind of monster, with the similar form of kindness and magic. The only question is why the queen hates him. Frisk greeted the good King ‘Good Night’ before Rance closed the door.

                Asgore walked towards the empty hallway. Tears came out of his eyes, but smiled with relief. He enters his room to slumber.

 

* * *

 

 _“He he he! How stupid can these pawns be. Maybe I should visit **them** later.” _The menacing flower seem to had echoed inside Asriel’s dream. Rance was playing the music box with a lullaby to Frisk until she falls alseep, Sans reading Papyrus a bed time story, and Undyne snoring loud, while Toriel covered her ears with her pillow. Asgore sat on his king-size bed as the moonlight from the hole reflects unto the big windows. He decides to lay rest, with a family picture on his hand. Him and Toriel, with two children below them.

To be continued…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here with another update. I should've posted this two days earlier, but black out occurred when I was done with the last paragraph and my save file of the story got 'corrupted', I had to re-write EVERYTHING in chapter 3. There might be some confusions, so feel free to comment if you want to ask some questions. And feel free to express what you think of this. Opinions matter.
> 
> Also, here are some lines you might expect on the next Chapter: (note: they're not actually written like that, but think of it as a next chapter echo:  
> "Yo! Are you okay?" 
> 
> "Here, you can have my scarf."
> 
>  
> 
> _"In case you haven't noticed. **THEY'RE STILL MISSING~!** "_
> 
>  
> 
> __  
> **"You made me. YOU MADE ME. YOU WERE MY GOD!"**  
>   
> 
> "Hahaha, let's play tag the villagers! Whoever tags the most monsters win."
> 
> "Sure, dude!"
> 
> Well, that's it for now. Expect another next week less. Situations change and if I'm fortunate, I can post another within the week.


	4. Chara, The CORE, and the Captured Nightmares (part one)

Alphys went back to the core, with her usual lab coat. She put away her borrowed bathroom robe in her room so that she could return it to Asgore the next day. Mettaton NEO walks beside her while approaching the core of the CORE. Before them is a bridge towards a cylinder pillar, with a rotating sphere that had tesla coils attached to it, while electricity surges. At the side of the cylinder were 2 separated computer consoles, and below them were the ice that had stacked, melted into smaller pieces; the Ice wolf had stopped throwing ice for a while now, and the core will have a temperature meltdown if it isn’t turned off soon. Luckily, during the amalgamates incident and the questioning of her progress, she created a huge generator that can power up the underground for weeks. Only to pass time just in case one of the amalgamates get loose and damage the CORE. Any bad possibility that happens to the core, she can switch it to the generator until she repairs the main power source herself.

                “Darling, are you sure you want to turn off the power core?” Mettaton asked her. He has understanding of the CORE’s capabilities, but Alphys doesn’t want to make any risks. “Yes. I’ve already switched the power source to the generator. S-so that no one would notice any unnecessary blackouts.” They proceed, the underground will be empty soon since the barrier is broken now and monsters will eventually live in the surface. The CORE will no longer be used when their home is empty.

                Alphys proceeded to the right console, while Mettaton went to the left. The robot isn’t exactly confident in doing this, so he’ll have to rely on Alphys’ instructions that was downloaded into his hard drive. It’s been a while seeing Alphys work seriously, or maybe something is bothering her. The two started typing commands into the console, each tapping echoed through the room, as none of them had stopped. Several green light beeps had notified, and then both of them pressed [Enter]. The electric surge had stopped and the rotating sphere was slowing down. Up until it stopped. “It’s done, Doctor.”  Mettaton notified, and Alphys took a deep breath and exhaled, the CORE is finally shut down. They left the building, only because it was already 01:00AM and they had a lot to do in the next several hours. After a few minutes since the CORE’s shutdown, the Cylinder extended upwards. Showing a glass container… With a RED SOUL in it.

                Despite that it was late and Alphys needs to sleep, she had a phone call from Undyne. At first, she was telling her that she needs to get to bed but without noticing, they overextended. Alphys was in front of her computer with a number of notifications from different monsters. Some were thanking them that they were able to reunite with their family who were turned into amalgamates, some were negative and told her to just die. But Undyne replied off those other monsters and they deleted their comments. Alphys is always updated with her social networking feed and would notice something off. And she was thankful that Undyne is fending off haters. It was already 2:12AM, and they continued chatting on phone.

                “No, n-no. I’ve already packed up my stuffs. I d-don’t want to keep you waiting for tomorrow’s d-d-date.” She talks nervously on her phone, and Undyne sounded eager on her side. “A-ah. So, that human was only… Oh, uhm. I-I’m sorry for making you worry; I’ll apologize to him tomorrow—I mean later as well!” Undyne tells her that she doesn’t need to. “O-oh. Ok-kay. Uhhh, maybe we can all be f-friends with… F-FRISK WAS A PRINCESS?!” Undyne was also shouting on her side of her phone. “OH MY GOD, SO W-WE’RE FRIENDS WITH A PRINCESS… EEEEK! I am SO updating my status. My followers are going to freak, too!” As Alphys was shocked with the news as she switched tabs and started typing the news, something on her monitor was beeping. A notification tab appeared over her browser. It was her surveillance camera at the True lab. She puts down her phone while she focused unto it. “Wah? Oh, the security camera feed. I must’ve forgot to deactivate it… Wait, is something moving down there?” her tone of excitement lowered, it must be one lost amalgamate that she forgot to send back. But she had already sent them all back, and not one of them were left in her laboratory, “it’s heading towards…the project… Oh no…!” she worries herself. No one else should be at the True lab; it was something else.

                She ran towards the elevator and went to that part of the lab as fast as she could. There was someone or something in there, mumbling something while checking the potted flowers. “Y-you! How did you get in here--?” She got there, and saw what she couldn’t believe, it startled the intruder. _“BACK OFF— “_ It said in a horrible tone. A golden flower that talks, grown it’s stem to get near the other golden flowers. It’s voice tone suddenly change to something less threatening. _“I’m not doing anything wrong… this time!”_

                Alphys replied with her heart beating fast, “W-well. Technically no, but what are you doing here? I’d shut this … off down for a reason!” She nervously said, “You had no right to— “Flowey cuts her off there with an irritated facial expression, “No right?! Oh, come on Doctor! You start lecturing me about rights, you sicko!” It put its left leaf on its stem as it bragged with a distorted tone, _“I WAS THE PRINCE OF— “_ it stopped. It considered itself an idiot for saying too much information. Alphys can’t tell if it was sweating water or pollen, “err.”

                “You’re a, wha--?” She wondered. Flowey tries to laughed it off, _“The prince… of ‘nothing’…!_ It tries to hold itself back, but its vines were about to burst into growth as it grinds its teeth. “W-what do you mean by that…?” Alphys became curious, and the tension with the intruder seem to have calmed down. _“The underground… will be all but empty place now.”_ It replied with pity, _“Nobody will be left for me to play with.”_ Its tone tried to crack a joke with a sad and irritating laughter, although it looked down and continued _“but.. There were others. Weren’t there? Others like me, or at least… What would’ve been. These… Prototypes.”_ It turned its attention towards the potted golden flowers, all growing but will eventually die out.

 _“But since you’re not DOING anything with them, I figured, rather than simply leaving them to wilt. Would you mind donating them to a worthy cause…?”_ Flowey got that idea from Muffet when she wanted to get her family spiders back from the RUINS. The doctor seemed to be confused, “What are you saying…?” she asked, _“What **I’m** saying, Doctor Alphys, is… Well, from one sicko to another, and this is  me, asking you. Nicely. Please, help me...”_ It is desperately not making sense, but it seemed that it wants her to make something out of those flowers. _“Help me… make **more**.”_ That last part sounded more menacing than usual. “W-what--?” Alphys reluctant to ask, but Flowey repeated itself with the same menacing and distorting tone. _“ **Make... More.** ”_ Alphys shivered with fear when it shifted its face when it repeated itself. Flowey noticed it, and tries to hold itself back again. _“I mean, you must have some determination left from back then, right? If these flowers would suffice.”_ It asked. Flowey desperately wants a new same companion, and judging from it trying not to kill its maker is a dangerous sign. Alphys can feel something terrible is going on if she does what it asked her to do. _“W-we could collect more from the Royal Garden, as for the catalyst. You can’t go two feet around here without stepping something left with those amalgamates of yours. It’s not exactly dust, but it should be enough to suit m— **o-our** purposes.”_ Flowey corrected itself with that last part, and Alphys is hesitating. Not only did it knew the Royal Garden at the castle that was filled with flowers, but it also knew about the Amalgamates she had created. She put her hands together tightly, while thinking of something.

 _“So what do you say, let’s bury the Hatchet before we part ways and…”_ It suggested, and changed its facial expression tone to something more threatening, _“ **GIVE ME A REASON NOT TO FOLLOW YOU.** ” It changed its facial expression with a simplistic and a pathetic look, “You gave me life. Doctor, isn’t it only fair if you leave me with someone to share it with…?”_ asking for pity, Alphys doesn’t know what to do. She already disposed of the remaining ‘Determination’ drug that was extracted from the souls the first Royal Scientist did and she doesn’t have any left to make. Even if she wanted to, there are no more souls to extract from and doing so to any human who is alive would be wrong. “Uhh… Oh geez, I-I’m sorry. Really, I am! I wish I could help you, but I can’t. I-- …” She struggles to talk, until she decides to sort her words in her mouth and gave a sigh. “I gave up ‘Determination’ research a long time ago. After what I… What I did, to those fallen monsters. After how much pain it caused everyone. I don’t think I could ever…” she explained while looking down, and it took a lot of effort to do so, but her listener isn’t very pleased. She heard vines rustling just below Flowey, as she looked at it and tried to make a reason. “P-please try to understand, I—“ she was interrupted. _“Understand…?”_ It was starting to boil up, and Alphys got nervous at it asked with anger. _“ **UNDERSTAND?!** ”_ its vines starting to shake and tighten as it makes a terrifying facial expression. It can’t hold its anger for much longer, as Flowey was about to explode. But for the last time, it held itself back. It is desperate for help, but Alphys can’t do anything about it. Tears or something similar were coming out of its eyes as it starts to cry.

 _“No one…”_ It felt like crying while it tried to hold its anger back, the lights started to flicker. And when the lights stabilized. The flower appeared as someone else, and it resembled the goat child Alphys saw from her collected VHS. It cried with a familiar voice, “No one understands…” he fell on the floor, kneeling down as he shook while his ears touch the ground. “I’m… alone. I’m so alone, Alphys!” She recognized this child, as she tries to approach him. “Oh, God! Prince Asri— “the lights flickered violently, as the child faced her with eyes looking red with a grudge. Asriel turned back into a flower, with a grudged facial expression. Alphys steps back in fear, _“ **YOU MADE ME LIKE THIS!** ”_ it couldn’t hold back any longer, as Flowey fired seeds at her, she ducks while putting her hands above her head for cover. Some seeds hit her cheek and arms, while she grit her teeth, trying not to cry from the seeds that hit her. _“You… made me… **You MADE ME…!** ”_ vines extended and suddenly grew thick while the lights continue to flicker. This must be a dream, as Alphys wouldn’t believe what she’s seeing, as if it was some nightmare. _“ **You… You were my GOD!**”_ it said irritated. Alphys steps back as she tried to reason while fear and anxiety tries to stop her, “Prince Asriel, j-just let me explai—!” the vine that was extending from Flowey struck her neck, and started to strangle her.

Flowey’s terrifying tone are unstably changing while Alphys grips the vine to break free. _“But now… Hihihi. **I AM YOUR GOD.**”_ It said from a playful tone to a demonic tone, as it tightened its grip on Alphys’ neck, and raising her from the ground. _“ **AND I ORDER YOU TO—!** ” _as it was giving its command, a familiar child, with a weird smile and a knife at hand appeared at the doorway, just behind Alphys. A memory of Asriel’s voice resonated from the depths of Flowey’s mind. ‘Don’t you have anything better to do…?’ it interrupted Flowey’s anger and realized that it was strangling the life out of its creator. It lets go of her with complete regret. If it continued, its life would be in danger, by that person. Alphys wheezed and coughed as she grasped for air, laying herself on the ground in fear and regret.

What Flowey did just scarred her for life, and its plan to convince her to make more of itself failed. _“That’s not… I didn’t mean to…”_ Flowey is convinced that it could no longer approach her as she cries on the floor, and decided to run away in frustration. “I’m sorry… I’m so…so sorry…” she couldn’t bear what she did to the flower, and it nearly killed her. What’s worse was that flower was Asgore and Toriel’s biological son, Asriel. Thinking of all that overwhelmed her, as she cries throughout the time; the child who was behind her stood where she first appeared for a while. Until she approached her, patting her body to wake up. And then a familiar voice echoed in her head.

“Alphys…. Wake up… Darling….. you…..ay… say something…. Doctor Alphys….!” The voice grew louder, and Alphys opened her eyes. She was laying in front of her computer, and with tears covering her table. She looked up and fixed her glasses, to see that her social networking page was still up with no new notifications. A metal hand patted her back, and asked. “Doctor, are you okay?” It was Mettaton, worried of what was happening to her. The doctor wiped her tears from her face as she tried to talk, but for some reason she couldn’t put it to readable words. “You were having sleep paralysis, darling.” He mentioned, as his charging mode was interrupted, when he heard her choke in her sleep, as she struggled to move while mumbling apologies. He continued, “Darling, you should rest earlier next time. Working too late will get you weird dreams.” As he clicked the close button on the top right of the window in her monitor. He pressed the shutdown button as the monitor turns off later. “M-mettaton…” she mumbles. Her dream was too vivid, that she hugged the robot while crying. He didn’t understand why, but he had a feeling that she had a long day with a stressful night, as he comforts her. “There, there. Doctor, you should go to bed, and I’ll stay by your side.”

As Alphys nodded, they could hear mumbling from under the notes. It was a phone with an in-call from Undyne. She picked it up and fixed herself before talking. “Alphys, are you okay?! You went silent and I heard you choking on the phone! What is going on there?!!” She was worried sick. Alphys explained that she had a nightmare, but Undyne wasn’t convinced. “There’s something wrong with Toriel as well.” Undyne mentioned as Alphys can hear someone weeping on the other line. “She was having a nightmare, too, and she was crying something!” She exclaimed worried, Alphys can hear Undyne comfort Toriel. “There, there. Your highness. Everything’s going to be alright!” But Toriel wouldn’t stop crying. What is going on?

* * *

 

Toriel will be sleeping with Undyne, and when she heard two humans greet their goodnight with Asgore, she felt worried. It’s been some time since she last slept at her old home, but she didn’t expect to share rooms with the Head of the Royal Guard. She could’ve shared rooms with Frisk so that she could comfort her as if she’s her child. But her personal Royal Guard appeared and stayed with her, that she couldn’t approach Frisk. Knowing how Rance fought and showed his dedication to protect her out shadowed Toriel’s love and affection. He wouldn’t allow anyone else to sleep with Frisk in order to protect her. What’s more, after what she did to Asgore without thinking made her look like a bad mother. Time passes by, thinking of what her ex-husband has in mind; she could’ve just shared rooms with him, but she wouldn’t do that. Toriel made him look like a bad guy when she protected Frisk from him, and all that he did was just to bring her back. Undyne fell asleep on her side of the bed with ease, with a loud snore which kept her awake for most of the time. Until the time hits 1:10AM, she finally fell asleep. But for some reason, something wasn’t right.

After some time, she could smell smoke coming out of the door voices could be heard from the other side. “Children…?” She groaned irritated at first, but after her senses were becoming clear, jolted up and felt something bad. She took her blanket off of her and looked around the dark room, noticing a flicker of light coming out below the hedges of the door. Normally, the lights outside the room were brighter, but it was dim. Something must’ve caught on fire, as she could hear a piece of word burning loudly from the other side. The fireplace was only at the living room where they ate pies and drink tea, and there’s no way the sound of fire could reach through the hallway to the bed chambers. She went off her bed and approach Undyne, whose right arm dangles from the side of the bed. “Undyne. Undyne. Wake up…!” she tried as she shakes her awake, but Undyne wasn’t responding. Just when things were getting weirder in every second, Toriel could hear familiar voices of children. Happily running the halls while laughter echoed through the halls, the burning wood started cracking loud. “Oh, God. Children…?” It could mean trouble, she went towards the door and tried to open it. But for some reason, it was locked and she can’t break through alone. “Undyne, now’s the time to wake…. Undyne…?” Toriel was growing desperate. She kept rotating the knob to see if she could open it, but it was locked and the small turn switch was replaced with a keyhole.

Did Asgore fixed the doors to be locked on the other side? It wasn’t like this when she lived with him before. She starts to knock on the door if the others could hear her, but the only response she could hear were children laughing with joy, while the sound of burning wood starts to grow louder. While listening, she could hear footsteps that could only be described as if someone was walking barefoot. It could be Asgore, knowing him and her never wore any shoes, or maybe it could be the human warrior who took off his metallic footwear. What made her think worse isn’t just the footsteps of an adult that makes its way towards the children, but the sound of metal loudly being dragged while the sound of children started to run and cry in fear. The sound of fire crackling the wood continues, “Children! Get out of there!” she cries out. But as loud as she could be, Undyne is still fast asleep. The kids from the other side responded to her plead. A small girl was crying for help “mommy…!”, a boy who sounds slightly older called out “Toriel, where—where are you?”, and a toddler could be heard crying at the corner of the hall.

Toriel recognized their voices; all of them were at her care before they ventured outside the ruins. They were running away, screaming for help as the unknown person dragging something approaches. Toriel keeps knocking on the door, screaming her lungs out desperately “My children! Don’t hurt my children!!” she keeps on knocking to wake up Sans and the others. But there weren’t any responses. She couldn’t knock on the walls to get their attention due to it being too thick to make a sound, and Undyne isn’t waking up anytime soon. She took her attention to Undyne as she tries to wake her up.

The books in the book shelf in between two separate beds started rustling, and a moment later a couple of them fell. Revealing a hidden golden flower on a pot of dirt; Toriel thought it was a normal flower, until it started making a teasing tone, _“Hihihi. Why are YOU so worried about them?”_ she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A talking flower on a flower pot, she gasped as she lets go of Undyne. _“Golly. Did a little o’ me scare a big bad goat mother, like YOU? Normally, kids about that wretched human’s age would think you’re all soft and kind.”_ It suggests with sarcasm, until his tone and facial expression darkens. _“Until you **abandoned** them. **And all that dwindles to their death**.”_ Tormenting her, she recalled a similar flower that tried to kill Frisk. “Wait a minute. You’re that flower that tried to— “

Before she could finish, she heard screams when a metal pierced something. She turned her attention to the door when she heard less footsteps running away towards the other side, after a moment later the sound of metal dragging on the floor makes its way towards where the kids had run off. _“That’s one.”_ It teased while pointing its leaf up. Toriel ran towards the door and warned them, “My child, please run!” she could hear that dragging metal come closer towards her door and stopped for a moment. Sweat drips from her face as she could tell that whoever that person whose making that sound turned its attention towards Toriel. “If you hurt my child, I’ll kill you! You hear me?!” she said while knocking the door in anger. There was no response, and proceeded to move again, judging from the sound from the other side. She can imagine that the kids were cowering in fear as she continued to knock on the door hoping it would do something. Toriel is growing more desperate to protect the kids as she starts to kick the door open.

 _“Why are you so worried about them? Didn’t you let them go outside the ruins because you **believed** that they’re strong enough, as you  locked the door, telling them to never come back…? Hehe…Hahaha…” _Flowey teased with a maniacal laughter. Toriel tries her best not to get frustrated by a flower as she continued to ram herself to the door. It wasn’t not just locked; it’s been blocked off by something from the other side. The spare bedroom chambers weren’t designed to have any windows to escape on, and the ventilation shaft on the upper part of the bookshelf isn’t big enough for Toriel to fit in. And even if she could fit, she can’t escape with that flower playing and slowing her down. She was losing patience herself as she casted her fire magic to burn down the door, whatever Flowey was saying was blocked off as Toriel concentrated her fire magic to a maximum

Unleashing a barrage, she was able to char the door. But when she tried to break it open, it wouldn’t budge. It was charred black and still wouldn’t open. She tried using her magic one more time, but this time Flowey grew vines into it. Making sure that it’s completely blocked. She turned around to see multiple vines extending from the shelf towards the door, and three more passing through the hedges. It’s been holding it down from the very beginning. Toriel became more frustrated, she turned her attention towards the flower, whose been giving off a vicious smile. “What do you want from me?!” she stomped her foot to the ground in anger.

_“I want you, to suffer.”_

“What…?” Toriel asked in confused as her voice starts to break down. It continued with an antagonizing follow-up tone, _“You see. All the children that had fallen underground after that incident with Chara, were under **YOUR** care. And as a responsible parent, you shouldn’t had let them out of the RUINS.”_ With gestures of its two leaves attached to its stem, it’s making its point. _“But since you let them out, they were all KILLED by Asgore. But just because he killed them doesn’t mean he’s responsible for their deaths? You know what I’m talking about, Queen Toriel Dreemurr…?”_ Flowey jested. “You compare me with him? I loved my children…! I would never abandon—“

Flowey’s face extended towards Toriel’s with a monstrous expression. _“ **YOU WOULDN’T ABANDON THEM…?** ”_ she stepped back and gasped in fear as he slid down against the door. This flower isn’t as weak as it looked. Looking at her expression, it starts to laugh at her. _“Oh, Toriel. I wouldn’t be so sure about that. In fact~”_

Footsteps can be heard. And it sounded like it’s just one child left, and was knocking on Toriel’s door. “Mom, mom! Are you there…?” it sounded like the young girl who was running away with the other kids. “My child, are you hurt…?” Toriel stood and asked, worried of what is happening out there. She responded, “I’m hurt, bad. That man, you were right…! He killed Jake and Tommy… I don’t know what to do…” she cries afterwards. As much as Toriel wanted to help her, she couldn’t do anything. Not with the vines blocking the door, and in her current state she feels like she could get killed if she engages the flower in a battle. “Shiela, listen. You have to run outside of this house and—“

“I can’t…” she replied, “I’m scared… I’m scared, mommy… Please, let me in…” Toriel was struck in silence. She couldn’t open the door if she wanted to, and if she could, Flowey might attack her. Toriel is in a tight situation, “My child, please run. There’s a monster in here and I don’t want it to hurt you— “she tried to reason, as Flowey’s stem starts to crackle and expand; its head grows bigger and its leafy arms are becoming thick and thorny whips. Toriel looks back and see the monstrous form of a flower. Flowey extended more vines from its base and wrapped it around her body tightly, preventing her from making any more unnecessary fire magic.

She couldn’t struggle due to its thorns, and she couldn’t talk in her situation as one free vine appears in front of her. “Mommy, please… Don’t leave me.” Shiela was crying as she knocks on her door. They can hear the sound of metal being dragged on the floor getting closer, as the young girl begs for help, crying. “Please, mommy…! I don’t want to die… Mommy, please open the door…” Flowey’s free vine plays around Toriel’s cheek, waiting for her to talk. She couldn’t move in fear in her situation, and it asked her, _“Remember what you told them when they wanted to leave you…?”_ Back then, when each child wanted to come out of the ruins, she tested them. And all of them proved to be strong, whether they tried their best to dodge her attacks or they simply begged. None of them got hurt, for Toriel to put all of her fire magic to the lowest of the low. No one got hurt, and when she let them with the RUIN doors opened, they never came back. Until later, when she went to Snowdin to buy Cinnamon Bunnies, she heard that the King had claimed a number of human soul.

Toriel never went outside of her home again. After some years had passed, another group of human children had fallen down. This time, she insisted that they stay without any form of violence. But her weakness got the best of her. Those three went so far as to work together, trick her into hugging them and knock her out with a gray book. Before blacking out, a young girl had kissed her forehead before escaping the ruins with the other kids. When she awoke, out of anger she whispered to herself in the empty room before locking the door, _“I’ll set my weakness aside for your sake, my child. But if you wanted to go out so badly, then don’t come back.”_ Flowey seemed to had repeated those words to her, as her eyes widen and tears were coming out of them. _“ **Do you remember now…?”**_

“Mom, are you there? Please mommy, let me in… Please mommy…! Mommy…!” she cries out of her lungs as she desperately knocks on the door. The vines around Toriel had loosen, and the free vine took something out of her pocket. Out of nowhere, a key was taken and dropped it on the floor. Flowey shrunk back as its vines had released the door on both ends. As Toriel fell on the floor and watched to ensure that she is no longer in danger, but she didn’t realize that the sound of metal had stopped. “Mommy, mommy, mommy!!— “she desperately knocked.

Her senses had returned, and snatched the key. But it was too late, that before she could put in the key, a three-pronged trident had stabbed through the door, with crimson flowing down. “SHIELA!!!” she cried loud. She fell on her knees, with her whole body shaking. She covered her eyes as she realized what she had done. Making so many regretful thoughts, the last humans that are left are Frisk and Rance. She tried to stand, but her thoughts had confused her movements. She pulled her senses together and was about to confront Asgore on the other side of the door, but when she opened it, to her surprise she was back at the RUINS. Right where she found Frisk at the patch of flowers, where the first child was buried. She came out of the room and looked around; her eyes were worn out and she couldn’t muster her strength to think about what is going on. Without even realizing it, she walked towards the patch of flowers and fell on her knees once again. Her ‘If I could reset everything.’ She thought, but then out of nowhere. _“…Oh, were you expecting a child’s corpse? You should know where they are.”_ Flowey appeared in front of her, teasing her again.

Toriel is done with games, as her hands were engulfed with flames of pure wrath. “Why… Why are you doing this…? **WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!** ” She stood up and confronted the flower. It doesn’t matter what happens to her anymore, she’s ready to throw away her life to take down Flowey. _“Like I said before. I want **YOU—** “_Toriel threw her flames and burned the entire bed of flowers, as she heavily breaths in frustration. Flowey was slowly burning, but as the flames grew, so was Flowey. And instead of turning into the monster it appeared before, it transformed into someone she didn’t expect. **_“TO SUFFER.”_** It said while appearing as the Dreemurr’s only son, Asriel Dreemurr, while Toriel’s eyes widen as she covered her mouth. It laughed maniacally in his own voice as the flames engulf him. She covered her eyes in disbelief and cried out his name. And when she uncovered her eyes, she was back at her room.

“Your highness, are you okay?!” Undyne was at her side, worried sick with her phone on the floor. Toriel was heavily breathing as she looked around, and without warning, she jumped off her bed, pushed Undyne aside, and opened the door to see if something had happened. She pinched her nose bone in between her eyes as she tried to get a grip. Her dream was too vivid to be called a dream, and as for Undyne. She held her arm and asked what’s wrong. Toriel broke into tears and cried to herself, “It was my fault… It’s... It was my fault…”

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ro-kun here. Sorry for the delays, I had a LOT of things to do. And because the story is too long, I decided to cut it to two. And from how I'm writing it, I can't put it to simpler words. I'm pretty much doing a different perspectives, only because the nightmares are intense for the main characters. But don't worry, I won't make it too long on the next one.  
> Expect the other half on the next one. Hopefully, I get it done next week. And thanks, CyberneticPinkEye for letting me use some of your voice over work with Chi-chi and Darcy. If you guys want to listen to Alphys' nightmare, look up CyberneticPinkEye at Soundcloud with the title, The Seeds Just Stick To You...(ft. Chi-chi)


	5. Chara, The CORE, and the Captured Nightmares (part two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, Ro-kun here. I just want to say that I thank some of the readers in giving consideration to this kind of story. There will be more twisted plot and new characters; expect more human-monster interaction as they struggle to be accepted by the overworld, and some character developments from either Flowey, or the humans. This story is entitled like that for a reason.

                Asriel was having a transition dream. It was slow and confusing, that when he looked forward, he sees Chara doing that creepy smile while standing on top of a patch of flowers, and pointing up from the RUINS. He looks up to see the light above the hole, where she fell, Asriel looked back at her to find her missing, “Chara? Where are you…?” He asked himself while he looked sideways. His vision was a blur when he did that. Suddenly, he heard crying from behind and saw his parents looking at back. He approached to see who it was; it was himself laying on the ground lifeless, and full of wounds. Slowly turning to dust, it flew towards him. “Ack!” He covered his eyes, as he tried to spit out his own dust, he looked again to see that his mother and father were looking at him. Or someone behind him, he looks back to see an unfamiliar skeleton monster facing them.

He looks back to see his parents, but they weren’t there anymore. He looks back and no one was there anymore. The room became pitch black, as he could see no one else but himself. “What’s going on…?” He looks around, and saw a light on a flower. He steps back and runs away with fear, and then he heard something crushing a plant. He looks back again, to see the light shines at Chara, with a crushed flower underneath her shoes. She’s not smiling anymore, more likely she was sad. Asriel approached her, and without warning, she hugged him. It was all so sudden, and then she whispered to him, ‘if you want answers. Then go to the CORE.’ He pushed her away the moment she mentioned the core, and didn’t say anything else. Instead, she looked down.

                “I’ll explain everything from there.” Chara said, and turned around to face someone. She gripped her knife as Omega Flowey appeared from the shadows. “Wake up, Asriel!” her voice echoed as the fight between Chara and that monster had begun. Asriel wakes up from his dream and breathes heavily. It was 12:10am and the clock still ticks. “Chara… What do you want me to know…?” He left his room and moved on to the basement. He kept on walking, lost in thought of what Chara meant, and without noticing, he’s already walking on snow. “What the…” He looked back to see the exit door of his home. He recalled The ruins connect with the path towards Snowdin. As he continued, he looked around to see no monsters around. It’s reasonable for them to sleep at the time like this, he thought as he progressed. Nothing much had happened and got to Snowdin faster than expected. It took him an outdoor clock seemed to have been installed just outside between Grillby’s and the store. It was 12:30am.

                The decorative lights outside made the pathway forward less dark and gloomy. In Human terms, this type of decoration resembled as “Christmas tradition”. Strange that he knew about this, despite that he had never been outside of the underground. “Hiya!” a yellow monster jumped in front of him, he steps back and lost balance as he fell on the snow, grabbing his chest as he breathes heavily. Surprised to see someone still awake. Asriel stood up with his foot stomping on the snow and shouted at him, “Please don’t do that again!” the other didn’t bother as he put his tail on front of his mouth to be quiet. “Sorry, dude. I haven’t seen you before. So I want to be the first to greet you: Welcome to Snowdin!” Monster Kid said quietly while pointing the sign at the entrance with his tail.

                “Uhh, I’m in a hurry to the CORE at the Hotlands. Can you— “without any more words from Asriel, Monster kid interrupted him. “Hotlands?! Can I come with? Please, dude. I wanna meet someone cool there.” Asriel didn’t have enough sleep to process the other monster’s barrage of words. “Okay, okay. You can go, but this is going to be dangerous…okay?” Asriel suggested, hoping if he would change his mind. “I am SOOO IN, DUDE!” he was hyped. Then one of the houses turned on the lights and a sound of an older girl could be heard from outside. “Monster kid, where are you, turd?”

                “Oh, snap…! We should get going.” He suggested to Asriel. He doesn’t want to be seen sneaking around either, for some monsters might be familiar to him as ‘Prince of the Dreemurr’s’ who should’ve died a long time ago. “agreed…” they both left the corner. Monster kid suggested him to take the boat ride as a shortcut. Asriel is in a hurry, so he took the offer. As Monster kid called for the river person, he suddenly asked. “Hey, dude. What’s your name?” He looked at him smiling. He smiled back and said, “My name is Asri.”

                “Monster kid is what they call me. Nice to meet you.” He offered his tail for a handshake, since he doesn’t have any hands. Asriel shook his tail as he replied to him, “Nice to meet you, too.” The river man arrived and offered a ride. It looked at Asriel as he looks away. It didn’t make a comment, and looked forward towards the river. They both hop on when Monster Kid pointed the destination. It was a silent travel as the water splashing was the only sound that was making. “Dude, are you okay? You’ve been quiet for a while.” Monster kid looked at Asri, while he looks at the splashing water. The thought of Chara appearing to his dream must mean something important, and it was hard to believe that a dream could mean something. But right now, he’s alive with a power of determination and this could mean that he’s not done yet. “I’m fine.” He replied back as he looked at their destination.

                “Beware of the man who speak in hands.” The river person mentioned, two young monsters looked at it. “Why is that…?” Asri asked in curiosity. But it didn’t answer. They’ve arrived at Hotlands and the heatwave seemed to have grown hotter than usual; that or they got used to the cold at Snowdin. “Safe Journeys. Tra la la la.” It spoke as it rowed away towards the next stop. “He’s weird. Am I right…?” Monster kid jokes to lighten up the move, “…yeah.” They journeyed forward, assuming that their destination is far. “Monster kid, do you know any shortcuts…?” Asri asked him, he scratched his chin with his tail and thought, “Hmmm… Now that you mentioned it, there’s a working elevator that could take us to the CORE faster.”

                “How do you know so much about the Hotlands?” he asked the armless monster. “Well, that cool person told me about it.” He said. They went to the elevator, and as the door closes, there were several buttons. It mapped out the elevator destination, so they need to get to the third floor, but which side? “Dude, let’s take L3.” Monster kid suggested, but Asri disagreed with him. “It looked like R3 is closer to the CORE than L3.” They argued for a while, and then on top of the elevator door, it suggested ’XX/XX/20XX - 01:30AM’

For a while, both Alphys and Toriel had a vivid nightmare involving a flower. And for some reason, it wasn’t a coincidence. “Alphys, are you there?” Undyne asked while she’s at the Queen’s side comforting her. Alphys was in deep thought, trying to process why it could have happened. It never happened before, and it shouldn’t have had happened. Maybe something caused it, or maybe something was preventing that kind of event from happening… “Oh, God. Mettaton, we need to get back to the CORE!” She said, “Darling, is something wrong?” Mettaton was curious; he doesn’t know why but Alphys was rushing. “Undyne, just keep comforting Toriel. I-I need to check something…!” without any second thought, she hung up her phone. Undyne isn’t really good at comforting someone, but she knows who’s good at it, and she knows two people who could comfort her. Undyne needs to make a decision fast. Who should he call for help?

                Alphys and Mettaton NEO were running towards the CORE, but for some reason the security protocols were activated in attempt of stopping them. Lasers were reactivated, the old turrets were on and even trap doors were opening up. Mettaton carried Alphys in avoiding the lasers, jumping over gaps with the help of Alphys’ jetpack phone, as well as destroying some of the turrets. Both of them had blasters, and some were already blasted in advance, so it made things faster. “I didn’t know we had lasers and trap doors… Doctor, did you— “

                “I didn’t know those were even installed. They weren’t in the control panel at the lab. Maybe the previous Royal Scientist had something to do with it.” Alphys interrupted while covering her head as Mettaton carries her. Some of the turrets must have exploded on their own due to it being old and unfixed, but it had a weird way of being blown up, as if they were burned down. “This might have activated because we disabled the CORE.” He suggested, but that wasn’t just it. It was more than that. The monsters that Mettaton hired were there while they passed, and they lying on the floor…sleeping…? “There’s something wrong… They’re not supposed to be here.” Mettaton suggested. Mettaton has been seriously out of character due to what happened to the doctor, and for the end result of them turning off the CORE. He’s logging every action in advance.

As they reached the core of the CORE, Mettaton puts down Alphys and noticed that there were two other monsters that were there messing with around. One seems to be a yellow monster with no arms, but has a tail and spines at the back of its head. While the other had brown-grey colored fur, with long ears and short horns sticking out of his head. With a color red striped shirt and black pants. Both of them seem to be young monsters, but it would have been impossible for those two to get past the reactivated security. Alphys recognize the other one as Monster Kid, but the other one was barely unrecognizable. Mettaton had no database of the other one as well.

                “Alphys, look!” There were destroyed turrets at the ceiling near the core, and they all looked like they were just burned down; traces of smoke trail can still be seen before it disappears. They must’ve done something. “Dude, this is bad! We need to get to get out of here!” Monster Kid suggested. “Not yet, we need to get this out of the way.” The brown-grey one didn’t realize that Alphys and Mettaton were there watching as he was about to punch through the container of the core. The two didn’t believe what they saw; the core reveals a container with a RED SOUL in it, and the two young monsters are about to take it. “Darling, did you know that the CORE’s core was powered by a SOUL?!” Mettaton was surprised, and so was the Doctor. “I-I didn’t know…! I didn’t make the CORE, the previous one made this…!” she insisted. The other monsters heard them, and the yellow monster panicked. He blocks the way as the other destroyed the container with his small clenched fist, “You two, s-stop right there…!” Alphys suggested. The two approach them, “Darlings, we’re not going to hurt you. But if you don’t get out of the way— “

                Without warning, the RED SOUL flew itself to the brown-grey monster, and fused with him as his fur’s color changed to white. The color brown-grey must be some sort of powder to be shaken off from his fur like that. Alphys recognize who the other monster is now, as she shook her head in disbelief. The other monster started floating as a pulse of light glimmered brightly. “Oh God, Prince Asriel?!”

                “That is Prince Asriel Dreemurr?! Didn’t he die a long time ago?” Mettaton was shocked by the revelation, and Monster kid heard them as well. “Woah, wait. My friend is a prince…?” he asked them. “N..no… Don’t believe them…” Asriel’s tone of voice was changing as he tries to control the power of the soul was surging in him. He was transforming, growing older. Monster Kid, who blocked the way turns around to see what the light was, but because he was near the light and nothing to block it, it overwhelmed by what he’s seeing. “No. That can’t be… You told me your name is Asri…they’re lying, right?” shaking his head as he steps back, denying what the fact.

Without realizing It, he tripped and almost fell towards the pool of water; his teeth cling to the platform as he struggles to get up. As the light faded, someone helped him up, and to his disbelief it was his friend all grown up. He grew taller, his horns grew longer and his fangs were showing. His typical clothes changed to a blue robe with a delta rune on the front. “D-d-dude….?!” He was trembling and without warning, Asriel flew above Alphys and Mettaton, and fled. Both were shocked and speechless of what just happened. “Mettaton… Did you record all that…?” Alphys asked.

“OHHH YESSSS!  I AM SO USING THAT ON MTT NEWS!” Mettaton reacted with glee. “BREAKING NEWS: CORE WAS POWERED BY A RED SOUL, ASRIEL DREEMURR HAD RISEN FROM THE GRAVE AND TOOK THE SOUL— “Mettaton was thinking of a headline for his breaking news. But Alphys wasn’t very happy with what she saw. “No. Don’t show it to anyone.” She said in a gloomy tone, “But Darling, this is BIG NEWS. We didn’t know what was powering the core and— “Alphys eyes glow red and retorted with an unreasonable anger “WE CAN’T SHOW IT TO ANYONE.” That came out of nowhere, and he was shocked to see her react like that. The glow from her eyes faded, and suddenly realized what she just did. “Darling….?” he asked her. She raised her glasses and pinched her eyes, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know what came over me. B-but we can’t tell anyone about this… Not until w-we figure it out why all this is happening.” She left the room, and Mettaton stood there replaying what he just saw. Two monsters breaking in to the CORE, taking the soul and transformed into something with power, and Alphys’ eyes glow with an unexpected aggression. It worried him, and it might have something to do with her dream. Alphys went back to tell Mettaton, “I-I must be tired. Let’s go back and rest for now…….” She collapsed on the floor. Mettaton rushed towards her as she picked her up, “Alphys…? Are you okay? Alphys…?” She’s still breathing; but according to Mettaton NEO’s scan, it seems that her stress levels were unusually high. Asriel will have to wait, Alphys needs help. He marked the timestamps of the events that happened tonight on his memory drive upon returning to her home and laboratory. The last one was indicated.

>>Alphys overexerted herself and lost consciousness: XX/XX/XX – 02:30AM

 

* * *

 

Undyne decided to knock at Frisk’s door, “Frisk!!! I need your help!” without delay, someone opened the door with a yawn. “… What’s your problem? She’s trying to sleep.” Rance peeked at her with a tired look; his metal equipment attachments laying at the side of his bed. Judging from the reaction time and his response, he must’ve been leaning and sleeping behind the door, guarding her. “Oh. Hey, can you wake up Frisk? Toriel needs help.” She asked, Frisk woke up and asked what’s going on. When Undyne heard her wake up, she tried to tackle the door open. The warrior didn’t let her, as he held the door with force and her attempt ended up face-planting herself towards the door. She rubbed her face and looked at him with a vicious intention, “Why you…?!” Frisk rubbed her eyes and told Rance to open the door. She went off her bed as she continues to rub her eyes, but Rance held her hands away and gave her a handkerchief. “It’s okay now.” She turned his offer down.

He opened the door and made way for Frisk to go out. They went to see Toriel in her room; with Rance guarding Frisk, he allowed her to get close to Toriel. “It’s…. It’s my fault…” she keeps repeating to herself with her eyes glowing in blue. With determination, Frisk hugged her tightly and comforted her. There was something glowing behind her, everyone else noticed it, too. Toriel’s hands began to burst into flames, and something wasn’t right. She was going to hug her with flames bursting from her hands, “M….my…child….” Rance pulled Frisk before she catches her on fire, while Undyne arm locks her from behind. “Your Majesty, what are you doing?!” Undyne restricted her, Rance readied his weapon in defense. Toriel struggles to get free with her hands burning, but Undyne wouldn’t let her. Frisk hides behind Rance, as he stays on guard. “You two, get some water!!! I can’t hold on for much longer.” Undyne ordered as Frisk nodded and went out of the room. Rance followed her to the bathroom. Luckily, there was a bucket underneath the toilet. Frisk turned on the faucet at the shower, and as water slowly fills the water, he asked her. “Why are you helping them…?” she stayed silent as she watched the water flow. “They seem to have hurt you. One way, or another. But still, why do you still care for them?” the bucket was almost filled and Frisk looked down. She asked him, “I made you all worry when I ran away. But why do you still care…?”

She returned his question to him, it was unexpected. He knew the answer behind that, “Because I have a duty to fulfill.” Frisk can tell he’s holding back; it’s more to it than that, and he can tell she knew that he’s holding back. “Other than that, you and your father, my brother and sister, my mentor, and everyone else in the Capital. They all cared for us when we were orphans. In return, I made my vow to serve your household and the people of the Capital, for the generosity and kindness. You are the only **family** I have left to protect.” The bucket was full, and Frisk turned off the faucet. She could tell that he’s not telling the whole story, but it was truth. He mentioned that, but what about his mother and father...?

“Here. Let me help you with that.” Rance carried the bucket of water. They rushed towards Toriel and Undyne’s room, and it looked like she couldn’t hold her down any longer. They gushed both of them with water, and it seemed to have calmed Toriel down. Undyne lets go, thinking that the queen would continue to stand, but she didn’t. Toriel fell on the floor, unconscious. Frisk bends down towards Toriel and tried to wake her, but she wouldn’t respond; she was barely breathing at all. Her hand glowed when she held her, and it grew brighter when she called her ‘Mom’ as a tear from her eye fell unto her fur. That light shined bright and then slowly faded. Toriel’s breathing went back to normal, and Undyne went out to get some towels, telling them that she’ll be right back.

Rance couldn’t believe what just happened in front of him. That was some sort of magic. Frisk told him while she hugs Toriel without looking back, that she cares for the monster because they were nicer to her when she became friends with them, that Toriel’s motherly nature reminded her of her mother. Even Asgore acted more of a dad than a king, she knew their grief, and her ability to befriend them was the reason why the monsters aren’t as aggressive as the tales had mentioned. They were like family to her.

Rance realized that she did it again, she returned what he just told him. And to put it in a way, Frisk’s father acted more of a caring guardian towards his people more than a cruel king Frisk had assumed. Frisk can tell that; he wouldn’t kneel down and desperately ask for her to return for no reason. She was anticipating that he would drag her out of the underground. But he didn’t. “You’re still needed by your people on the surface, Frisk. And I can tell that you’ll do good for both humans and monsters.” Rance suggested. He doesn’t know what he’s saying anymore, but what he said is true. Undyne returned with a lot of towels, and the two humans had help dry Toriel, and the floor. Undyne puts Toriel on her dry bed while she lays down on Toriel’s wet bed. Nothing more was said that night, and I don’t think anything else will happen that night. Or you could say that it’s morning already. Frisk and Rance went back to their room, and Frisk went to her bed. Rance gave her a brush on her head and told her to get some rest. As she falls asleep, Frisk wondered what he meant by. ‘you and your father, my brother and sister, my mentor, and everyone else in the Capital. They all cared for us when we were orphans. In return, I made my vow to serve your household and the people of the Capital, for the generosity and kindness. You are the only **family** I have left to protect.’

                By the time Frisk fell asleep, Rance was leaning on the door again ensuring that nobody comes in without their consent. It seems that she was determined to allow monsters to live above ground, and she trust them regardless of what just happened. Rance checked his phone, and time indicated that it was already 2:45AM. He made a thought, ‘It’s been fifteen minutes since she last calmed down. What a stressful night. Time to report to my sister, then.’ He dialed the numbers and the it rang. A few seconds later, someone picked up.

                “Dianne…. Frisk is safe…….. I’m reporting from the monster castle where their king lives…… Toriel seem to have the same symptoms of what happened to the other people at the capital months ago…..” while he talked, he noticed a short skeleton standing in front of the bookshelf, with his hands on his pocket jacket. He seems to be watching with no glow from his eye sockets, but his presence is overwhelming; Rance isn’t equipped to fight, nor does he need to since Frisk is already fast asleep. Making more noise will wake her up. “…. No, nothing’s wrong….. I’m just as tired as— Your highness… Everything is okay here…. Frisk had become friends with most of the monsters, based on observation……. No, they weren’t hostile at her…. I assure you my life to protect her, one last time, my King…………. I will ask them if they are available tomorrow……. I am aware of the consequences, and…. I am willing to surrender myself if she is ever harmed…… I will be alright, and I am becoming more acquainted with them…. They are much like the people at the capital………. Yes, King Farlon….. Understood…. It might take some time to convince them peacefully, but I will do my best……… I will see this through if they are really as friendly as your daughter suggested…… Thank you…. Good night….“ he turns off the screen and puts his phone back to his pocket. When he looked again, the skeleton disappeared. Once again, he rested his eyes for a while with a sigh of relief. The king of the humans, also known as Frisk’s Father had spoken through his sister’s phone. He was worried for both him and her, but that wasn’t just it. His life is on a tight leash, that if he screws up. He’ll end up dead from either the monsters, or from King Farlon himself. He slowly falls asleep, with a memory of him and his sister as young as Frisk, playing outside the farm fields. The joyful days before he made a choice of becoming a Royal Guard.

Despite the tension and difficulty of today’s situation and his job, seeing Princess Frisk safe and sound fills him with Determination.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be writing some Extras by the time I make time to put more pieces to the story. It's either a short unmentioned scenario, a past-related story, or just bonus developments. You guys also noticed on the second chapter where I made a choice for Frisk to [Stay] or [Leave]. I plan on writing a probable scenario if she chose to [Leave]. Stay tuned, and don't lose your way.
> 
> May determination and confidence be with you.


	6. Chara, The CORE, and the Captured Nightmares. (part three)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking of putting this on the extras, but there's a part of this story that is the main highlight of Chara, The CORE, and the Captured Nightmares. So, I, the great writer Ro-kun (not really that great, I'm just putting up a Papyrus act.... yeah, I shouldn't do that again.), had decided to make this part of the main story.

                It was 1:33AM, past midnight. Asriel and Monster Kid were still arguing which side they should go. “Dude, we should go for L3 already!” Monster Kid suggested, “Seriously, the route on R3 is shorter!” Asri insisted. It’s been 3 whole minutes and still counting.

                Asri is losing patience the longer he argues with his companion. He asked himself why he need to bring him along, but he knew how to get to Hotlands faster with the River Person’s help, and he pointed where the elevator was. “I guess we’ll just go for Left 3, then.” He gave up trying to convince him. “Huh, I thought it was Lemon 3? My bad, we should go for R3 then.” Asri nearly popped a vein, but he just had to pull through. Whatever lies at the CORE should answer some questions he needs to know, or it would have been a waste of time.

                They arrived at L3; it doesn’t seem to look like it’s a long way to go there. Until they past right into what seem to be a shop with Muffet packing up her things, while a horde of spiderling is helping Muffet carry the remaining Spider Donuts and Cider in a duffel bag.  Asri walks by, while Monster Kid hides behind him. Muffet noticed the two and turned her attention to them, while her extra arms are packing some stuffs, “Oh, dearie. What brings you here?” she asked. “We were on our way to the CORE.” Asri politely replied, while Monster Kid nodded.

                “Ohohoho, if you want to get to the CORE faster, you could have go for **R3** instead.” She giggled. Asri looked at Monster Kid with a ‘I was right’ smirk on his face. Monster Kid frowned, “Fine, you were right. No need to rub it, dude.” He retorted. Muffet just finished packing up her stuffs and the last spiderling just webbed down. “Sorry, dearies. But I need to go now.” She put her hand unto her mouth to cover her smile, as she sprung a web just near the edge of the pathway and webbed downwards.

                The two went back to the elevator and pressed R3 this time. The moment they got there, they could already see the Hotel. Judging from the map layout from the elevator, the CORE should be on the other side of the MTT Resort. As they entered the hotel, it was quiet. It would’ve been obvious since it was already 1:50AM and monsters need to sleep. Asri doesn’t have any time to lose, but as for Monster Kid, his eyes were dazzling about almost anything he sees at the lobby.

                “Dude, check this out. It’s Mettaton!” he was jumping around when he sees the Mettaton Fountain. “Yeah, good. Can we go?” Asri insists while pulling him away from the shoulders. At that moment, there was a glow that sparked from Monster Kid’s nape. He turned his attention to it and suddenly, “Yeeoouch!!” Monster Kid screamed in pain as his tail whipped his friend’s face, knocking Asriel down. He looked around as if someone just pinched his neck, but when he tried rubbing his tail unto it, there were no marks. Asri sits up from the floor, rubbing his face with a red tail mark.

                “Oh my gosh, Dude! I’m sorry!” he didn’t hesitate to apologize. He offered his tail to help him get up, and he accepted. “It’s okay, you didn’t mean to.” He replied kindly as he brushes off his shoulder. He didn’t expect Monster Kid to have that glow, either. They continued without any more time to lose.

                The CORE seem to just have minimal power used and it looked like it would be a walk in the park. They went to the right door and saw a pathway. Underneath was nothing but flames coming out of the lava. Asri held Monster Kid close by so that he wouldn’t lose balance. But it would be a bad idea if he was the one who lost balance and pulled the other one to their death. They were able to pass through.

                This part of the CORE hasn’t been visited in a long while, judging from how much ash dust and rust had accumulated in two metallic statues resembling a familiar skeleton with each eyes having different colors. The left statue had green glow, while the right side had blue. It seems to strike a familiar feeling for Asri. “Dude, this statue’s eyes remind me of Papyrus.” Monster Kid said, while looking at the left statue. A thought had occurred to the other. When he was a flower back then, he didn’t know the origin of the two skeleton brothers. They just happen to show up in Snowdin, but they never told anyone where they originally came from. Either that, or he forgot an important detail.

                Without warning, the statues had let out a wide beam of light that scans anyone who passes through. When both green and blue had scanned the two monsters, an alert system had occurred. The door that proceeds to the CORE’s core was slowly closing, while a loud siren echoed throughout the CORE. Without time to lose, Asri pulled Monster Kid to run with him. They were running, and a robot voice mixed with a warning siren could be heard saying: “WARNING! WARNING! INTRUDER ALERT!” in loop. Mettaton NEO was immediately notified that time, but when he was going to check the screen, his attention turned towards Alphys, who seem to be mumbling something weird as tears were coming from her eyes.

                The warning notification kept alerting Mettaton, so he had to turn it off to wake the Doctor up. As the two monsters had proceeded, it seems that some monsters had followed them. And they didn’t look too well. They were mostly Mettaton’s hired guards who were supposed to be guarding the Test of Strength room. The hallways of the CORE were becoming more dangerous, as they were forced to fight these monsters, then suddenly old turrets were activated and a trap door had opened up just behind Monster Kid, creating a huge gap to prevent anyone from moving forward. “Dude, we’re in trouble!” he said. None of them wanted to fight, so they made a risky bet on jumping over a huge gap.

                Asriel is too determined to back down now, especially when they got this far to the CORE. Without warning, Asriel carried Monster Kid and made a huge leap. And with the help of his magic, he made fire burst out of his other hand and both feet, with that, he was able to boost himself into getting to the other side. Monster Kid was covering his eyes with his tail, praying that they could have gotten to the other side. When he opened his eyes, he realized that they already made it. Asriel puts him down, and he stood up with his heart pounding like crazy. “Dude, what…are you…?” He realized that he was only going to the Hotlands to visit someone cool to him, but because of his enthusiasm, he followed his companion without realizing what they were getting involved into.

                “D-dude.. Why do we need to go here, i-in the first place?” Monster kid asked nervously, starting to regret going here. Asriel felt something strong, and it was a familiar presence. “Someone I need to talk to is here.” He replied while looking at the doorway, whatever it was, it’s close and cold. He looks determined, while his friend wasn’t. The other monsters were going to make a leap, but the turrets fired heat lasers and knocked them out cold.

                “My best friend is in here, and she told me that she needs help.” Asriel reasoned, Monster Kid doesn’t understand why his best friend should be in this place. But since they’ve come a long way, he has no other choice but to tag along. And because he saw two skeleton statues that resemble Papyrus and his brother, he became curious as to why Papyrus is so cool. “I’m curious, Asri. Who is your best friend?” he asked. When he turned around, his companion gone. He was on the other side, “Chara! Where are you?” he shouted with both hands putting them on the side of his muzzle to make the voice echo louder.

                Well, that answered Monster Kid’s question. It was already 2:10AM based from the digital clock attached to one of the wall. When they heard a trap door noise about to open, they didn’t waste time to run. As they run further, Asriel could feel Chara’s presence as the it lets him navigate towards the maze of the CORE. Whenever Monster Kid makes a suggestion, Asriel just followed his senses without wasting any word. There were more turrets and lasers that activate by itself as they progress. The deeper they go, the more dangerous it becomes, and since Asriel’s time was running out, he had no choice but to speed up his pace and Monster Kid can’t go back without his companion’s help.

They reached the CORE’s core, and it revealed a container, with someone in it. The two can see that it was a human, sitting down while facing at the back. “Frisk….?” Monster Kid asked, so his best friend is Frisk? Then who is Chara? The person inside the container resembled Frisk, but her attire is different. Now that they looked closer, she is different from Frisk. “Chara!” Asriel rushed towards the container without noticing how limited the platform looked. Monster Kid set aside his fear of falling and followed. Both of them wanted to ask questions.

                The voice echoed through the container and Chara looked back to see. “Asriel!” she stood up and placed his hands against the container, her frown changed to joy. “What’s going on…? I thought you… and… “Asriel couldn’t put it to simpler words as tear were coming out of his eyes, he just went to hug the container. Chara hugs back, and it was like a teary reunion. “Dude, is this your girlfriend?” Monster Kid jested.

                “Listen, Asriel. Whatever you did, is **my fault**. I shouldn’t have tricked you, and I shouldn’t have done all that.” Chara was also breaking down. The buttercups, her soul absorbing to Asriel, when he passed through the barrier, when he got killed. It was a realization, but Asriel was and still a naïve child, “It doesn’t matter!” he cried. Chara wiped her tears off and jested to him, “You’re a big boy, now. Big kids don’t cry.” While she sniffed off and tried to retain her voice.

                Turrets from the ceiling were deployed, and they have nowhere to run. They were aiming at both Asriel and Monster Kid, and with no options left, he used his ability to conjure fireballs at the palm of both hands. He unleashed his barrage before the turrets were able to fire. “I won’t let anyone separate us, again!” he said. Monster Kid couldn’t believe what he just saw, and so was Chara. He blew up all of the turrets, but a shot that was aimed at Monster Kid got through. He froze on his feet, as if life was flashing before his eyes. The moment he heard it hit, he realized that he didn’t feel anything. He was back to reality, and in front was Asriel covering for him.

                He fell on his knees, but after few seconds, he pulled out a thumbs up with a determined look on his face and said, “How’s that for a big kid, Chara?” Monster Kid was jumping around. “Oh my Gosh, DUDE! You are like, so cool with what you just did! A-a-and I didn’t know you can use magic!” Without realizing, his fur changed to ash-grey. The turret’s firepower must have dropped since it wasn’t maintained for a long time. Asriel didn’t feel any burns; it was like a puff of glowing ash. Monster Kid used his tail to get knock most of the ash off of his clothes, and when he was about to go for his fur, Asriel raised both hands to stop him. “I’ll be okay, so that no one would recognize me.” He said as Monster Kid nodded.

                “Your real name is Asriel. Why didn’t you tell me that?” his companion asked as the fur one turned around. “I just shortened my name to Asri, since you’re not really telling me your real name.” His answer did make sense; Monster Kid isn’t a real name to begin with. “And this is your best friend? I thought it was Frisk.” He jested while Asriel was looking for a way to open the clear container. “We’re not just BFFs, we’re like siblings.” Chara answered while she sits down, as she leans from the inside. A moment later, two monsters arrived at the scene. One seems to look like a dorky lizard monster on a labcoat, while the other was a robot with body structures close to a human. “Alphys, look!” the robot said. Asriel was too busy looking for a way to release the container, and Monster Kid was alerted. “Dude, this is bad! We need to get out of here!” he warned his companion. “No, not just yet. I need to get Chara out of here.” Asriel said, while he was in deep thought. He couldn’t tell him why, or it might make the whole situation worse than it already is. Monster Kid looked back again and saw the robot’s eyes flickering a white light at random intervals. He was gripped with fear, but he had to make a stand. “Asri, I’ll buy you some time. You rescue her!” He stood in the middle to block the way, but inside him. What could an armless monster do to stop one robot and the other? He has to do something, he thought.

                The two monsters were arguing about something. Asriel couldn’t find a way to open it, so he jumped onto it and clenched his fist. Chara stood up and went to the edge side to avoid the glass shards from harming her. He broke the container, but his hand was aching; it took a lot of force to break it and he managed to muster what he has. The moment he broke the glass was the moment Chara turned into a floating RED SOUL.

                ‘W-what…?’ Asriel thought. Chara was just a soul after all. But then, why did the two see her in her physical form? “You two, s-stop right there...!” the lizard monster suggested. The two were starting to approach them, while the robot was giving a kind warning. Monster Kid didn’t consider his message since he was too focused in the robot’s eyes flickering at random times. Without warning, Chara’s SOUL went to Asriel’s body. There was a surge of power, and his senses were growing confused. He blacked out.

                “Asriel….Asriel, wake up!” a familiar voice can be heard echoing in the pits of darkness. As he opened his eyes, he noticed that he was floating in the deep void of nothingness. In fear, he flailed as he floated, not knowing how to balance himself. “Chara, where am I? What is going on?” He shouted. His voice didn’t echo, but Chara’s voice was. The void became a slideshow of Chara’s memories, passing through as she tells her story.

_“Asriel, before I tell you why you are alive, let me explain to you why this all happened.”_

                He could simply refuse but he wants to know the truth why she went to Mt. Ebott. Why she hated humanity, and why her hatred extended to a point that she killed herself to make it all work. An uneasy feeling occupied his insides, but he swallowed his fear and just nodded. After coming this far, he should at least hear her out. That alone fills him with DETERMINATION.

                _Once upon a time, I was just a simple kid just like everyone else. I was a happy-go-lucky type of person before, and my parents tell me that I will have a bright future, because to them I was very critical. But the people from the village I lived in hated people who are gifted. One day, the other kids stopped playing with me, while the adults were looking at me like I was some kind of monster. They pick on me wherever I go, and my parents tried their best to know why they hated me. _

_One night, I woke up when I heard wood burning as smoke was clouding up the ceiling. The house was on fire, and when I looked outside the window, I saw my parents hanged with their bodies burning. They had pitchforks and torches, while shouting out hateful names. They insulted me with things I do not understand, and they calling me out._

_I was crying at the corner, crying for help._ **_But nobody came_ ** _. The house was collapsing, and I had to run away. I went at the back of the house, but they were there, as well._

                Asriel couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Humanity at its worst, and what he saw made him feel sad and sick to the stomach, that he covered his mouth while his eyes widen. It was unbearable, he saw his best friend struggle against an angry mob of people. She was dodging their pitchforks and sickles while some landed their palms unto her face, slapping her and pulling her hair. Some of the kids she became friends with rushed in to stop the adults, and helped her flee.

                _I ran away without looking back. I kept running, without ever realizing where I was going. I could hear so many footsteps following, so I keep on running. Until I realized that I was at Mt. Ebott near a giant hole. People were approaching me, and I was too afraid to go back, especially with them looking like they want to kill me._

_So I went down the hole, and used the vines to help me get down. But I misstep and fell. I felt so alone that time. My parents were killed, and every adult in that village hated me. Because they think I’m a_ **_monster_ ** _. I cried in pain, and cried for help. And then, I met you, Asriel._

                That was the first time he met her, and without any regards he helped her. She saw many form of monsters, and some intimidated her. But Asriel was there, comforting her whenever she felt afraid. The next thing she knew, she became friends with the monsters, and even became a part of the Dreemurr Family. But it didn’t end there, and the memories grew dark again.

                _After that one monster that seemed to be Dad’s good friend, he shared what he was working on: A machine that could serve as a power source for the underground, and he saw my RED SOUL as a potential. He was kidding, but I can tell that he wasn’t. After he left our home, he left a note about monster becoming a powerful being if fused with a HUMAN SOUL. _

_I didn’t want to trick you, Asriel. But I can’t let humanity do its worst for my friends above ground who saved me when I was caught. I wanted to see them again, and I wanted to invite them to the UNDERGROUND. And when I got there, they looked at you with the same expression they had when they wanted to kill me. I wanted to take my revenge but you stopped me._

_If I could only erase them, if I could only burn them like how they burned my house, and my parents…but I saw the kids looking at us. They were terrified, and so I fled back, without realizing that you were completely wounded. The moment we stepped into the throne room, you gave in. It was my mistake for me to push you like that. I hated humanity more than ever, and my hate became part of your dust._

_And just when my SOUL was about to disappear, that monster had a small container, and took me. Ever since then, I’ve become the power source of the underground. But in return, I can see everything in the underground. How that monster told Dad that his invention was a success, what Dad declared when a human falls from above, how Mom hated him for that, how that monster was destroyed by his own experimentation, and _ **_how you were made into a flower and what you did in the progress_ ** _._

                It was too much for him to see his parent’s condition after dying, and it was more heart-aching as to why she was used as the underground’s power source. Asriel didn’t know anything. He didn’t know any of this at all. He felt so disgusted of himself when he became a flower and playfully reset everything with his power. But that didn’t explain why he’s alive now.

                _The following human kids that fell after a month were three of my friends from my village, and they were all killed by certain monsters. Another group of three fell after many years later, and it was the same result. I wanted to do something, so I tried talking to the kids. But they ignored my warnings._

_The last human that fell was Frisk, and she listened some of what I had to say. Until Mom decided to stop her with force, after getting hit by her flames as she was burned to the ground, she died. But with my energy, I was able to rewind time, and saved her. This time, if anyone is going to get in her way,_ **_kill them_ ** _. But she refused, and kept her determination high. She hoped to become friends with the monsters without dying or killing anyone._

_And the more she endured, the more I realized that kindness was the only weapon that can affect anyone. I watched her, and guided her. The monsters in the UNDERGROUND tried their best to take her down, but she refused to give up. Even when you, as a flower, who killed Dad and transformed into a tyrant, I was there watching. You saw right through me, and called her by my name when you regained your form._

_No matter what happened, she adapted and struggled for a better ending for everyone. Without knowing that I was the one helping her how to deal with them, and with our DETERMINATION we escaped death itself. When you returned everyone’s souls, it felt like you were going to disappear soon, so I told her to see you again. You considered her as an ideal friend and concluded to her that I wasn’t the best person._

_But when Frisk was about to leave, I mustered my energy and persuaded her to hug you. That time, you felt both her warmth and mine. And gave you a portion of OUR soul. That is why you gained TRUE DETERMINATION._

_What Alphys gave you to make you a flower wasn’t DETERMINATION, it was FALSE DETERMINATION that came from my dead friends and other children. And because of that, your actions impacted everyone whenever you do something to them, and then RESET. But it is never your fault, because my hatred towards humanity had influenced your mindset. You learned that your seed pellets weren’t normal and decided to hurt everyone with it. Your SEEDS planted unto their bodies and in time, it made them more aggressive and stronger._

It was starting to make sense for Asriel, why he had a strange power, why he was alive, and why there were strange glow of light to any monster he touches. Why Flowey mentioned about that ‘plan’; it turns out to be a plan to have a human break the barrier and let everyone loose with an overwhelming hatred. A plan to cause another war between humans and monsters.

_But I didn’t let that happen. I was the power source of the UNDERGROUND and I did what I can to slow down the process. But now that we’re together again, we can cure everyone. We can save everyone, we can—_

The memories and pictures had stopped appearing; everything went black and he suddenly felt exhausted. He woke up on a ground, carrying Monster Kid in his evolved form. He puts him down while his companion pants as if he was having a heart attack, and stood up to clean off the dirt from his robe. Suddenly he had a realization. “Why am I wearing a robe, and where are we?” His body shined bright again, and his body reverted back to his younger form.

“Dude, we’re at the exit of Waterfalls. Near the entrance to Hotlands.” Monster Kid replied while he tries to catch a breath. “You were flying like crazy. Who are you, what are you? And why were you talking to yourself while flying like Tsundereplane having a denial moment?” he asked.

While he was flying without knowledge, they nearly bumped with Tsundereplane and she went bat crazy as she tried to avoid the topic of being touched by anyone else. Asriel can no longer hide his secret and began explaining. It was a spoonful for Monster Kid to swallow the story Asriel is telling, but he decided to listen otherwise. While he explains, at the corner of his mind, he could hear Chara telling him something.

” I’ll take over when you need help, Asriel. In the meantime, I’ll lend you my soul. Let’s fix what we broke.”

[Knowing that Chara is on his side again, has filled him with DETERMINATION]

To be continued…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like Chara's story? Was it consistent? It can't be as consistent as I have wanted it to, since she was too busy using Asriel's body to make an escape while she projects what she could muster. Consider Asriel, like a Digimon with a power to evolve. Hahaha, also did you know who **that monster** is? You already got several hints from the previous chapters.


	7. Plans in Motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here for an update. Since I'm not yet employed, I will be updating every Monday. Apparently, since I'm a fast writer, I can finish it in three days, but I have to have some of my friends give me pointers if I have any errors in my grammar or any irrelevant content. In the mean time, while I have time to kill, be sure to put up comments while I'm available.

                Rance had a conversation with his sister before he fell asleep, that lead to Frisk’s father interrupting his observation report with her. He must be very worried that he had to make an indecent action, but that’s what most people would do if they don’t know what’s happening with a family member. In this era of 20XX, guns have already been invented earlier and technology advances even further that people like the police should no longer be using old primitive weapons such as swords, spears, daggers or even bow and arrow. But the Royal Guards are exempted from that role. If can use a specific weapon, regardless if it’s old or new that is effective for their role, they are welcome to use it.

                Toriel wakes up from Undyne’s bed, and noticed something wasn’t right. Recalling her nightmare, the doors can be locked from the outside. She jumped off from her bed and checked the door knob. The lock switch is there and it seems to work. No keyholes needed if they are from the inside. She looked back to see that Undyne isn’t there, and to make things more suspicious, the bed she was in before was soaked.

                She went outside of their room, and seems that nothing is currently happening and everyone else had already woke up since the rooms were empty. She went to the kitchen to prepare some food, there she saw Asgore preparing tea. “Good morning.” He said with a smile, but he didn’t add her name. Maybe he finally accept the fact that they’re no longer entwined and simply act as acquaintances, that’s what Toriel assumed. The teapot was already filled and cups and plates were already prepared on a tray. “Oh, Tori. I forgot to ask, can you cook them your usual preference for household guests for breakfast...?” He carried the tray and asked that.

                “.... Sure, Asgore.” Toriel replied with little less energy. Asgore moves on out as Toriel prepared what she needs for cooking. After a while, after she placed the food on the table, there was [a loud ring](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6910705/chapters/15763852) that came from outside, it’s as if someone slammed the bell. Toriel and Asgore went out to see Papyrus on the ground and his head shaking, what made it strange is that he was wearing Rance’s armor attachments and helmet. They looked around and saw Frisk, Sans and Undyne helping up Papryrus, while Rance facing him, holding what seems to be left overs of his weapon. The blade part was impaled on the ground at the middle of the open area, and what he’s holding was the handle broken in two. He seems to hold them well, like he’s holding daggers. Undyne was still wearing Toriel’s bathrobe, and she doesn’t seem to mind.

                “In terms of weight and density, my armor attachments can withstand blunt and piercing type. But only to a certain degree.” Rance was explaining. His attire looked like gray civillian robes and he was barefooted. His type of armor can be attached to clothing and make it look like he’s wearing a full set of weight. The only exception are his gauntlets, his shoes and his helmet, that are being worn by Papyrus. “SANS, THIS IDEA WAS HORRIBLE!” Papyrus exclaimed as his head shakes as he stomps his foot repeatedly on the ground. “hey, at least he got your **head ringing**.” Sans jested with a smile and hands at side.

                “OH MY GOD, SANS! IT’S TOO EARLY FOR THAT!!” his brother replied back. Rance was observing, and found it strange that the two skeleton’s eye sockets can function like people with eyelids. Whenever they make react depending on the emotions, their eye sockets change shape to match their facial expression. They might be a special case. Frisk was glad that Papyrus wasn’t hurt. “NOT TO WORRY, FRISK. I, THE **GREAT PAPYRUS** WILL NOT GO DOWN THAT EASILY.”

                “You should never do that again... ever...” Frisk made it clear with both hands on her waist, and a stern look on her face. Rance was too focused on Papyrus and didn’t bother to face her. But he knew that she was being serious there. “I won’t...so long as no one ‘borrows’ my armor without my permission again...ever...” It didn’t really go too well when he said it, all while Sans was being cautious. That swing he made with his broken spear shafts was too strong, but he did try not to kill the skeleton. The warrior decides to look back at her, “Sorry...I won’t do that again.” He then lowered his head a little, and soon after, Frisk walk towards Sans.

                Undyne couldn’t agree more. Asgore sees both Rance and Undyne drenched with sweat, they must’ve been training. But to confirm, “Undyne, were you and human Rance training?” Asgore asked curiously. She nodded with a big smile, “It was the most intense training I’ve ever had! He’s hardcore!” she couldn’t muster enough strength to make an energy spear just to show them another spar match. “Now now. It’s morning and we have a lot to do in moving up to the surface.” The King suggested.

                Toriel looked concerned. Undyne wasn’t kidding about the intense training, based on how many holes and slash marks, as well as footprints and and other signs of struggle. There was also an unusual sink hole that is just about the size of a leg, in fact it looked like Rance’s right leg was covered with dirt. “Uhm, excuse me. Your highness?” Rance was facing Toriel with a concerned look, “There is nothing to worry about. No one was hurt in the process.” He continued, but Toriel beg to differ. But since it can’t be helped, she just smiled a bit and told them, “Try not to ruin the King’s front lawn next time.” She turned around, and then she almost forgot to add. “Breakfast is on the table, but please both of you take a bath. We don’t want the King’s home to be all messy.” It might serve as a problem for Rance since he didn’t bring a spare of clothes. “I might have a spare of clothes for both of you. You can put Tori’s bathrobe in the laundry basket, Undyne.”

                “By the way, Asgore. Why do you have a small version of your bathrobe?” Undyne bothered to ask. Alphys borrowed a bathrobe that had an initial of A, and due to its size, it was the closest for Alphys. Both Asgore and Toriel looked at each other in silence and then both of them looked at Undyne and Toriel was the first to reply. “Those were Asriel’s.” It was a grave silence, and Rance looked around curious. “I... forgot to ...” Just when the king was about to say something, Toriel reacted. “You forgot to put them away?” Asgore couldn’t say anything and looked sad, there was going to be another scene if no one steps up. Luckily, Sans and Frisk intervened.

                “tori, it’s early in the morning. we can talk about this later when you two have a private time.” He suggested with hands open suggesting to pause for a moment. Frisk comforts the king with a hug on his leg. Asgore realized that he can’t be negative with the human child and her bodyguard at the scene. Undyne pats him in the back and said, “There there, Asgore. I didn’t mean to ask.” Rance was just standing there, silent. He recollected his past and then Papyrus noticed something. “HUMAN RANCE, HERE’S YOUR STUFF BACK BY THE WAY.” The tall skeleton said as he took the helmet off and put in onto Rance. He removed it with both hands and placed the broken shaft on it like putting flowers on a vase. He took his blade at hand and went inside. He couldn’t mutter a word while hiding the fact that he had a sad recollection as he proceeded to go inside. “Excuse me.... I’ll be quick.” His tone of voice was obvious and Toriel can tell that he went through something, as her mood changed.

                Everyone wanted to ask what was wrong, but Asgore stopped everyone from doing anything; he knows very well that if a warrior had been there, he would need some time alone. Undyne doesn’t know that since she hadn’t experienced any form of depressing moments in her life, that or she’s moves forward without looking back. Fortunately, even though Rance was in that state, he bothered to look around for the welcome mat and rubbed his feet to clear off the dirt marks. He then proceeded to the bathroom without muttering a word. Frisk still remember what he mentioned, and she just had a hint.

                “There’s another bathroom on the third floor, you can use that.” Toriel suggested. As she proceeds, Toriel pinched her ear fin to stop her from setting another foot and added, “Clean off your feet with the welcome rug before you go.” She lets go afterwards, and Undyne rubbed it with her hand to clear off the pain. After they both took a bath, Toriel readied a spare of clothes that is just about their guest’s size. In Rance’s case, his shirt was royal green with long sleeves, and brown leggings. The design can resemble that of the British Red uniform, but without the ropes and tassles. Judging from the clothing friction, the clothes they provided were very old, but maintained. He gets the feeling that these were for that child they had, or this might be a costume. He couldn’t care less, but feel thankful that they had some spare clothes. After he took a bath, he proceeds to the dining hall. Undyne seem to have followed, and she seem to have had her usual clothes cleaned already, black tank and blue jeans. Rance hopes that his will be cleaned right after, as well. He really looks like a Royal Guard with what he wears.

As Rance followed Undyne to know where the Dining room is, he saw everyone else was already there. Needless to say, all of them looked like they’re casual norm type of family, that only he seem to stand out. Even Frisk had a change of clothes from blue to yellow striped t-shirt, Papyrus and Sans looked like uncles with their summer wear and the Dreemurrs looked like a couple. Asgore invites him to sit down and have his breakfast. What was on the table looked like bacon and eggs, bread and butter, and milk. There wasn’t much to say while they eat and there isn’t anything unusual about the prepared dishes, but Rance felt like it was all presentation. He’s making unusual doubts, but he goes along with it. The two skeletons seem to be talking in a different language as they eat. But based on their expressions, Sans seem to be doing a good job making puns as Papyrus is freaking out. No one can tell if they’re just joking around or are talking about something important.

Papyrus suddenly spoke outloud, “HUMAN, WE’VE RETURNED YOUR ATTACHMENTS TO YOUR ROOM.” Rance frowned and told him, “Not to be rude, but ask my permission first before you do that again.” Sans looked with a smile and said, “geez, kid. we only borrowed it for like 5 minutes. it's not like we’re gonna break it.” Rance just sighed and asked if he may be seated. He has the manners of a loyal servant, that Asgore notices. He is one of the Royal Guards, so he can only assume that he is usually seated with their King whenever they’re invited to dine with them.

                Rance tries to act natural with small talks and Undyne seem to go with it, but Frisk can tell that he wants to say [something important](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6526198/chapters/15371710) as she looked at him. Rance happens to notice and looked back, so he lets out a sigh and went straight to the point. “You guys are moving to the surface, right?” They all looked at him, and Asgore replied “Why, yes. We’re planning to make a newer home on the surface.” Strange name, he thought. But it seem to remind him of his mentor. Putting that thought aside, he responds to them. “You might need to talk to our King about that.” Rance said, and Frisk shrunk down from her chair.

                “He’s a good man, if you are able to talk to him directly he will pass off any legit obstacles that you might need to process.” He improvised. “Normally, in making a new town, there will be a long term process that will take up to a year before it is decided, not to mention another five months to have the blueprints for the whole town to be processed.” Rance said It’s all time and money, but fortunately the monsters had already made some progress in the overall. “But in order to cut time, you have to convince King Farlon, Frisk’s father to make it a legitimate home for you and the rest of the monsters.”

                “The blueprints were already prepared by Alphys, and the materials needed are already prepared. It shouldn’t take up time, since my men will be working on them.” Undyne suggested formally as she drinks water from her glass. She suddenly recalled something, and took her phone out of her pocket to call Alphys. Suddenly, someone was knocking on the door. “I’ll get it.” Toriel suggested, but based on the knocking sound, it sounded urgent. And everyone went to see who was it. The two skeletons are still talking about something, and Rance was feeling off with how they talk. It felt like he heard that language before, but he can’t pinpoint when and where he heard it.

                When Toriel opened the door, outside was Mettaton back in his square form, carrying Alphys who hasn’t woken up from her sleep. She’s barely breathing with her . “I’m sorry for the urgent knocking, but I need your help. Alphys fell unconscious after checking the CORE, and—“ Undyne suddenly checked her, she puts her hand on Alphys’ forehead and it was burning hot. “She has a fever, we need to get her checked!” the only doctor they knew was Alphys herself. “Let me try something.” Toriel suggested as she approached her. She placed both hands just above her and closed her eyes. Her hands began glowing faintly. It was a soothing feeling for anyone who’s near her: it must be healing magic, and it’s the first time they see her use it. Asgore whispered to Undyne to get back and let her concentrate. All of them stepped back except for Mettaton, who is carrying the doctor up front. He can faintly feel something soothing, but since Toriel’s hands were closer to Alphys, it must have a stronger effect. After Toriel has finished, they checked if Alphys is okay. But there was only small change.

                Alphys’ fever went down by a little but her breathing was still heavy. Toriel looked at her hands when she tries to heal, and noticed that her power has been very weak compared to before. Asgore confronted Mettaton to know what happened and Undyne rushed to hear, but because Mettaton had to keep it a secret, he had to make a lie. “She’s been having terrible fatigue for a while, and she didn’t want anyone to know. Until her body gave in.” It was a commotion, and Rance can tell what was wrong with Alphys. Sans was looking at him with his left socket making a glow as he grins. Papyrus doesn’t know what to do since he was caught in a confusion. Frisk might know how, and went to approach Alphys. But before she could suggest something, Rance went up and talk to them.

                “She’s having that symptom.” He said as he checked at Alphys, trying to hold back some irrelevant memories, he went to check her breathing, heart rate and temperature. “I’ve seen this problem before, and I thought you guys knew about this.” Undyne was furious and retorted to him, face to face. “What do you mean by that?! Punk!” Asgore and Toriel looked concerned; the warrior knows something. “Did she have a night terror?” He asked and faced the robot. “She had a night terror last night.” Rance had a feeling that Frisk can help her, but he has another solution in mind. And it very well go with his plan. “The people in my home city had the same symptoms, and if not treated immediately will cause them to go berserk. At first, we all thought that this was your doing, but it turns out that you guys aren’t responsible for it.” He takes his phone from his pocket and called someone. “Hello, Dianne. This is urgent, prepare the Red Moon treatment immediately. We’ll be heading to the camp.” From the other end, he could hear Dianne ask to wait and explain, but he ended the call immediately. “Metal monster, what time did she start getting night terrors?” Rance rushed to asked, “About 2 in the morning.” it was the time when Undyne knocked on the door five minutes after, when Toriel also had a night terror. “My name is Mettaton, human. Don’t forget it.” Annoyed as to why he was called ‘Metal monster’.

                Rance was rushing and Sans happened to ask with a low tone of voice. “hey, rance, was it? you’re not telling us what the deal is. care to fill us up?” Rance looked at Sans and he saw that if he says something that’s out of the character, he’ll attack. “The Red Moon, that’s what we call it. It is an unknown sickness that deludes people into a night terror they can’t handle. If prolonged without any form of relaxation, they will go berserk and attack anyone. It’s been a problematic sickness that we can’t pinpoint how it was caused or why it triggers that way.” He explains, Sans seem to be listening as well as the others. “It all started when the previous bodyguard for Frisk was fired. People who had symptoms were acting strange, and soon we were too late to find out how to neutralize it. By that time, when we were having less time with the Princess, we were busy gathering people who had the symptoms. Worst case, if they became too violent, we have no choice but to **execute them**.”

That word, he never thought that he would use it with her around. She realized that might have been the reason why she was being forced to live inside the castle grounds, so that she wouldn’t get involved with it, or in any case wouldn’t catch it. “No time to explain the rest of the details, we need to act now. I don’t know how long your Doctor will last, but to us it takes a full 24 hours. If they’re lost, sooner.” He sounded concerned as he heads to his room to get his stuff. Everyone else changed their clothes, and in that moment, Toriel brought his clothes all cleaned. Everyone seem to be ready, and when they are about to go the exit part. The assigned monsters for the construction had followed, as well as the Royal Guards. It’s not all the monsters, but there are a lot of monsters who are assigned for construction. Undyne made a speedy haste from the Capital to Papyrus’ home to get her armor, and Papyrus followed to get his own battle armor. After they got back, Undyne forgot to inform them about the situation they will be having.

Rance went out first, and Sans can tell what Rance was really doing, and in his own thought if he does something, ‘ **they would be dead where they stand.** ’ Asgore had made an impromptu announcement that they will be meeting with the humans, and it lead to a commotion. The very humans they faced before, they would either quiver in confusion and fear, or rebel. Toriel clapped her hands to silence it and had suggested that they should all get along with the humans. Rance came back with Dianne and she was surprised how many will be joining. ‘Hey, brother. Did you invite all of them...?’ she asked by the ear, and he responded, ‘it was an impromptu. These monsters are the construction workers, and there happen to be a situation.’

                Frisk had to do something to calm down the confusion. She then recalled that she agreed to become the Monster’s ambassador. In her understanding, she will be representing for them. And so she goes at the very front, and made an announcement of her own. “Everyone, calm down!” It made them stop for a moment, a few seconds later it was still a silent pace. She then continued. “I, Princess Frisk of the Human Capital, will be your ambassador for as long as I live. And I will assure you that, with my two Guards. The humans will not! I repeat: will not hurt any of you!” there was a slight commotion. Frisk was a princess of the human capital? Was that a joke? There were mixed speculations and somewhat offensive remarks. But then, Rance stepped up and made his own announcement. “And I am Rance Vor. The human’s Royal Guard of the North and the right hand servant of the Royal Family.”

                It was becoming more awkward since another human was going to rant, some had assumed. Undyne stepped in and commanded them, “Will everyone of you just shut up and listen?!” In her defense. Monsters know Undyne very well, and she only does that when Asgore is telling his statement. She trust Asgore that much to tell everyone else to shut up and listen, and if that’s the case with the other human, it means to say that [he gained her trust](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6910705/chapters/15763852). He looked at her and nodded his head, “Thank you, Head of the Royal Guard.” He then continues to face a large number of monsters. “As also a representative of Frisk, I will stand to support her decision in ensuring your safety, and I will ensure that my comrades in arms, the soldiers under the command of the other Royal Guards, and the King himself will not harm you!” Frisk added something to her speech.”Rance and I are not only your bet for your safety, but we are going to convince my father that you can legally live in the surface!” Rance was going to tell them that, but because she did claim herself to be the monster’s Ambassador, she will support them through and through. In his case, he will support her in making that happen. Frisk smiled towards her guard as he faced her with a determined look. It was all going well for him, and in return for the first time, along with Dianne. Frisk made her own stand to make a speech in front of a large number of monsters.

                All of them seem to have calmed for a moment, and judging from their reaction they trust Frisk. They also gave their trust to Rance. The rogue and warrior were surprised that everyone cleared their doubts and trusted her, as much as she trust them back. Asgore, Toriel, Undyne, Papyrus, Sans, Frisk and Rance were leading while Dianne directs where they need to go. As they have come outside, there was something different. A large camp was just at north of the exit of Mt. Ebott, and they could tell that they are going there. “ARE YOU EXCITED, SANS?” Papyrus walks with Sans. His brother seem to be too relaxed when he gave out a puff of sigh, “maybe. i’m tingling with excitement right now.... tingling to the **bone**.” He laughs it off when Papyrus flipped. But he’s thinking of it differently. He’s not tingling with excitement, his bones were shaking to the core. He hadn’t come to this road, before. And since he hasn’t been in the surface  for a while now, it might be all too different.

                Sans can’t help but to just smile it off, but inside he’s afraid of what will happen next. His lazy side doesn’t seem to tune in, but his facade is too convincing. Ice Wolf seem to have waved at them, and in return his eyesockets closed a little and waved back. The anomaly is still reacting, and he knows very well [what really happened to Alphys](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6526198/chapters/15243742), [what happened to the CORE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6526198/chapters/15499240), and what Rance wants to happen. But what he can’t tell is the Red Moon he mentioned, what will happen when they get there, or worse, what will happen if that ‘plan’ was set in motion. They all proceeded, and just at the top of Mt. Ebott were two familiar monsters. Watching the sun, both of them closed their eyes as the wind blows, making one monster’s fluffy ears flap as he breathes in. He opened his eyes, and turned to the other monster, who seem to look excited. “Are you sure you want to tag along?” he asked. “Of course, Asriel! After what I just heard, it’s a one-time adventure that no monster has ever done before.” Monster Kid suggests with an **determined** smile. Asriel laughed a little. “Well, there’s no turning back now. Monster KId.” The second day of the Freedom of all monsters, and they are about to meet the human on the high throne, The King of the humans, and Frisk’s Father. Dianne informed Rance that King Farlon has agreed to have a talk with King Asgore.

 

* * *

 

_“Hehehe. Looks like part 1 will be happening soon... Don’t you agreed? ............... What, do you think your sons will be able to do something about it? One of them is already dancing at the palm of my..... Oh really....? Let’s just hope Smiley Trashbag thinks what he sees. Maybe then, will things go into play faster than your assumptions....? Soon, you’ll be my one and only puppet. Hehehehe. **Hahahahahaha!** ”_

-To be continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's for now. I'll be writing what happened during the spar and upload it by Friday. And once everything comes into play, my schedule for posting my writings will be: Monday for the main story, and Friday for the extra stories. I didn't consider to put different perspectives into several chapters anymore so that you guys wouldn't get bored in reading it. So, I'll just put them on the Extra.
> 
> For those who want to read what happened during the spar: http://archiveofourown.org/works/6910705/chapters/15763852


	8. The Coin Flipper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here to apologize for the delay. A lot had happened that stopped me from uploading the latest chapter on the promised date. But, I made sure to lengthen the chapter's story this time. Please enjoy, and comment what you think of it. :) Comment or tweet what you think with the hashtag #SeedOfFlowey

                After an hour of walk, the monsters and the three humans had reached the camp where the king and his men are deployed. By count, there are less than a hundred soldiers who are well armed with rifles and a slightly long blade attached to its muzzle, making them ready to engage for both close range and long range combat. The rogue and warrior accompanied Frisk at the front, while behind them were the king and queen of the monsters. The head of the Royal guard is at front while the rest of the guards were at the outer part of the herd, ensuring that they won’t get ambushed. The king was at front of the biggest tent, which is at the very middle of the campsite, and what he and his people saw wasn’t something he’d expect. The monsters weren’t showing any hostility, and they act similarly to normal people. No red eyes, no threatening snarls or showing of teeth. No rabid features, just random expressions since they’re having a conversation with themselves.

When the front had stopped, Undyne commanded everyone to stop advancing, and the Royal Guards had sheath their weapons. The human soldiers had their weapons sheathed on their backs; it must mean that Rance and Dianne had warned them in advance. And so, the King of humans with two of his own Royal Guards had approached the two siblings, and with Frisk in between. The situation was tense, and the Frisk’s father had frowned, looking at his daughter. If anyone make a single bad move, it would lead to an immediate second war. Sans was behind the queen, while Papyrus was behind the king, looking around. “S-SANS. ARE WE GOING TO BE OKAY?” he asked nervously. His older brother didn’t respond at all, and was keeping an eye out for any attempts of assassination. He would have punned that he would be keeping an eye socket out, but if Papyrus were to react to that, it might be their last.

The king was still looking at Frisk, and it looked like he was waiting for Frisk to act. Toriel kneeled down to her to tell Frisk that she’ll be okay, and patted her on the back. Frisk nodded and approached her father, at that moment the King himself had kneeled down with open arms. She understood what he wanted her to do and ran towards him with a hug. It was a tearful reunion as both let out tears. She apologized for running away, and then he apologized to Frisk for what he did before with a contented smile. The soldiers, and the two siblings and the other Royal Guards had given a cheer for the King. They all really do care for them. The monsters were also glad that Frisk was reunited with her father. “WE’RE OKAY, SANS!” Papyrus cheerfully said while he lifted his brother like he was the younger one. Sans knew what to do next, he half-closed his eye sockets and punned. When he opened them, Papyrus didn’t react this time. Instead, he put his brother down and said “I KNOW WHEN NOT TO REACT, SANS.” Dianne and Rance had approached the King and bowed down. The king lets go of Frisk and stood to tell them that they have done well.

The two did not stand up just yet, and it was a sign of trouble. “I will overlook what you failed to do, but the next time you fail me again, I will have you banished from this country.” Those were some terrifying words coming from the King. The two said in unison, “Understood.” The king had ordered them to stand and have Rance go to their tent and rest. “Your Majesty.” Rance had stepped closer, “May I ask a small favor?” the king was curious. Rance then whispered to his ear, and after that the warrior pulls himself away and the Frisk’s father had nodded. “Guards, please escort the patients to the medical tent.” He ordered, it was understood that one was Alphys on a stretcher, carried by Ice Wolf and Greater Dog to be passed by two soldiers. Rance approached Toriel and asked, “Will you come with Alphys?” Toriel was confused, and Asgore wasn’t pleased. “What is the meaning of this, human Rance?” he asked with a both dominating and worried tone.

Frisk approached the good king and explained the situation that happened last night. After telling him that, he faced Undyne, who happens to go to his side. She nodded in response to what Frisk just told him. Asgore pinched himself between his eyes since he couldn’t believe what happened. Toriel was just as confused and devastated as he is when they siad that she nearly burned Frisk while having night terrors. Toriel looked at her hands with her eyes wide open. The king had joined the conversation, “Are you two, Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr…?” Toriel was in shock to answer, so Asgore had nodded and said “Yes.” Undyne and Frisk are going along to help the queen with her situation. But Asgore commanded Undyne to stay with him, with RG03 and RG04 at his side. RG03 seem to resemble a cat figure with her helmet shape, and RG04 has antennas coming out of her helmet.

“Frisk, why not rest at our tent? You must be exhausted from walking.” Her father suggested, but she refused. Instead she suggested to go with Toriel to the medical tent. The king could say no, but after what happened he had no choice but to let her. “Okay, but on one condition: Rance keeps an eye on you.” Rance nodded as they escorted Toriel. Frisk preferred to hold the queen’s hand like she’s her mother. Her Father was worried. “Oh, where are my manners? My name is King Farlon.” He introduced himself with a slight bow to Asgore. “Nice to meet you.” He replied, “The monsters here are our guests.” King Farlon announced, King Asgore also followed “At ease, everyone.” The monsters let out a relief of sigh, and the soldiers were awkwardly trying to start to warm up with greetings. As the two kings and their guards enter the big tent, they could hear everyone else trying to make an introduction of themselves.

At the medical tent, the doctors and nurses almost screamed in fear when soldiers delivered the unconscious monster and had put her safely in one of the beds. But Rance also entered and told them that there is nothing to worry about. Frisk and Toriel went next and the nurse immediately approached Frisk. “Frisk! Are you okay? How’s your temperature? You have a fever, cold, cough?” she asked many questions, it means to say that she’s worried about Frisk’s welfare. “I’m fine, I’m not the one who is sick—”

                “We can’t be too sure!” the nurse lifted her and put her on the bed. Before she could pull out anything, Rance held Toriel’s hand and approached the nurse. “Excuse me, but Frisk is not the patient.”  He then walked to the side to make way for Toriel, “She is.” He looked at Toriel as Frisk climbed off of the bed. Toriel lay down on her bed to rest, Rance mentioned “Red moon treatment.” The doctor enters the other side of the tent as the nurse cheerfully said “It’s already on its way.” Toriel tries to reason, “But… I’m okay.” Frisk had a lot of questions in mind, but the first thing that she asked was “What is Red Moon?”

                “Before I answer that, hold on.” The nurse picked up two chairs for both the warrior and the child to use. They sat down, and Rance was about to start the explanation. But the nurse took over and explained it herself. “The Red moon is an extremely rare sickness that only happen for people who had a horrible past. It started occurring to the citizen a year ago, when people suddenly started to have realistic nightmares. At first, we didn’t take the symptom seriously because it was only a nightmare. Psychologist went to treat their problems, but things got worse after two days, when the patients started acting violently while mentioning their fears.”

Toriel was listening and recalled that she did had a realistic nightmare. “By that time, they were already having night terrors, they began to violently attack everyone who tries to approach them. They even ended up attacking one another while mentioning their problems.” The flower, the fear of losing her children, and the pure terror that occurred. Toriel faced up and covered her eyes. Recalling that nightmare. “After a week of containing everyone who had that symptom, the citizens and guards are becoming afraid of making contact with one another. Either they’re afraid that they might catch it like a flu, or they might end up getting attacked by someone who might have it. There was also a time when some of the patients went out of control, and Ran—I mean the Royal guards had to put them out, for good.” The nurse looked down as Frisk was listened to her carefully, and Rance nodded to the nurse to keep talking.

“Until one day, our doctor had the symptoms and we didn’t know what to do. The King didn’t know as he invited him to the castle. Before he could warn him that he had caught it too, king offered tea and after the doctor drank some, he felt better. By the time he told his problem, he was forced to leave the castle to prevent anyone else in from catching it. Three days had passed and he didn’t trigger any signs of the Red Moon syndrome. The king didn’t know that by coincidence, his offered tea was the cure.” The doctor came in with a tray of tea pot and five cups were prepared on it. Back then, Frisk noticed that her father always brew tea before he sleeps. “Was it Valerian Tea?” she asked her.

                “Valerian is one of many ingredients that could help you get better, but that’s not the cure.” As he puts the tray on the table and starts to pour tea unto the cups. “Please sit up and have some.” He offered to Toriel a cup of tea. She does so and took her cup. “Thank you.” She said politely, “A friend of the King’s is a friend to everyone.” The doctor cheerfully said with a smile. Toriel smiled back and then turned her attention to her tea. She gently blew off the steam and took a sip. “It’s delicious.” She complemented with a surprised look.

                After she took another sip, it made her feel at ease. “This tea was a gift to the King from a foreign country after he offered them warm hospitality with no sense of discrimination.” The doctor mentioned. The nurse then continued, “Foreigners from Asia had offer seeds to grow some of their fruits. And made the fruit into tea, it’s called the Jade Dragon Fruit tea. Originally, it’s for people who are given praise by foreign Deity, and normally vendors from foreign countries sell them. But what made the given seeds special is that it blooms the fruit in Jade color and the taste is stronger than regular Dragon Fruit. And because one of its effects were to heal past wounds, the King decided to have the farmers grow more of them and had it used for the patients and victims. Eventually, everyone came to their senses.” After Toriel drank her tea, she felt better than before. Her chest felt lighter like a feather and she felt more energetic. Frisk ran up to Toriel and gave her a hug, while she hugged her back with a blooming smile. She lets go of Frisk and faced the Doctor and Nurse, “Thank you for sharing your wonderful tea.” She bowed her head a bit.

                “No need for formalities.” The doctor suggested as he offered his hand. Toriel took up the offer and gave him a handshake. “Name’s Doc Mercy and here’s my daughter, Bianca” He introduced himself and the nurse waved with a smile, “My name is Toriel Dreemurr.” There was that moment of silence as Doc Mercy’s hand started shaking nervously. Bianca’s smile cracked there as her eye twitched. Rance stood up and joined in the conversation “Doc Mercy, I’d like you to meet one of the King’s honorable guest. The Queen of the monsters. She’s a very nice caretaker of Frisk.” The Doctor’s glasses reflected as his other eye showed that he’s about to break down and sweat drops from his face.  Few moments later, both Mercy and Bianca were the ones sitting on the chair as they look down. “I… I need time to think.”

                “I apologize for not introducing myself earlier.” Toriel gave concern. “W-we’re the ones who should be apologizing.” Bianca replied as she faced Toriel with a relief smile. She looked confused, “We… We assumed that the King and Queen of monsters were more…. Terrifying and Violent…” Doc explained while they pictured a more horrifying image of the rules of the underground. “And why is that, my child?” she asked. “…Well…” They never expected her to look like a nice white goat monster.

                “because humans were taught that monsters are like that.” Out of nowhere, behind the doctor and nurse was Sans leaning on their chairs with a careless smile, having a cup of tea. The two suddenly jolted out of their seats since Sans like to put up surprises. Toriel forgot that back then, humans misunderstood their hospitality for a false threat. And so, it might have lead the new generation to believe that is the case. “Sans, please don’t give the doctor a run for his life.” Rance warned him. Sans decide to take a seat and took a sip of his cup with his eye sockets closing. “Mmmm… What’s cooking, doc?” he asked with his left eye socket opening half with a normal glow and using his hand with a cup, he pointed to the doctor. Frisk approached the skeleton and pulled his sweater sleeve, Sans kneels down to Frisk’s level and lend his earhole to her. “Please don’t do that again.” Frisk told him.

                “he he he. geez, kid. I’m not gonna do all that. i just want to see how tori and alphys are doing.” He said carelessly as he patted her. Bianca and Mercy looked at Rance with a surprised doubtful look, and when he noticed. “Frisk became friends with all of the monster underground.” He told them with a poker face, and coming from outside the medical tent, the soldiers could hear the two screaming their lungs out “WHAT!?” After Rance explained the situation based on what he witnessed, the two were taking some time processing all that. “Good thing I brought more cups.” Doc rubs his forehead as Bianca agreed. Meanwhile, Frisk was playing a game with Sans on guessing where the coin will be from both his hands. Surprisingly, Sans’ jacket sleeves are the only thing helping in hiding a coin. “Doc, how about the other one?” Rance pointed at Alphys who is unconscious in bed. “Hmmm. The patient needs to be awake before they drink the tea.” Toriel suggest, “Let me try to help.”

                Toriel put both hands together to form a prayer, and then she tried to use her healing magic again. This time, the glow from her hands were brighter than ever. The two couldn’t believe what they’re seeing, not to mention Sans was observing. Rance felt like he’s being watched, and decide to tell Frisk, “I might need to talk to your friend.” He went to Sans and sat down to have a face to face with Sans, “Let’s talk outside.” After the bright light that shone from Toriel’s hands, Rance and Sans went out to talk, and Alphys was regaining consciousness. Frisk approached Alphys as she tried to wake her up, the resting monster snored and said in her sleep “Please, bae. 5 more minutes.” If Rance was there to hear her call the daughter of the King ‘bae’, he would have thrown her out of the tent just to wake her up, Frisk assumed. Instead, she went closer and put her hand up to whisper, “Mew Mew Kissy Cutie is getting a trilogy.”

                At that moment, she stepped back and as expected, Alphys stood up from her bed and started to nerd out with complicated insults that only she could understand. By the time she finished talking to herself, she realized that she’s not in her laboratory. She looked around and saw Frisk and Toriel, Frisk smiles at her and Toriel looked relieved. “Oh, hey Frisk. Your Majesty, or should I say… Your M-majesties.” She joked with a snort. Before she could have asked where they are, Bianca approached to see how Alphys is doing. “So this is one of your friends, Princess….” She said in curiosity; the nurse didn’t realize that Alphys was reptilian until she noticed the scale patterns. In her approach, it took Alphys a few seconds before she realized that another human had appeared in front of her. Both screamed in fear in each other’s faces as Bianca ran back to hide behind Toriel and Alphys fell from her bed, using the pillow to cover herself.

                “F-F-Frisk! There are more humans visiting underground?!” Alphys said while nervously trembling. “We’re not on the underground, we’re in a human camp base.” Toriel mentioned. From behind, the doctor is scratching his head wondering what to do if more of them act this way. He waited for the moment to calm down, but from what he could hear, that monster is more or less reclusive. In that opportunity, he joins in the conversation and only made her react more. “Your name is Alphys, is it? You were brought here because your friends mentioned that you wouldn’t wake up. So…” behind him was the table where he put the tray and took one cup of tea. “I-I was at the….” To stop her from talking, he put his finger on her lips to tell her to quiet down as he offered a cup of tea.

                On the outside, he acted as insistently friendly as possible, but on the inside… ‘Please don’t bite my hand and just drink the tea so that the madness would stop.’ He thought nervously. Alphys was curious and because they offered her a drink, she took the cup from his hand. On the outside, she looked curious as she sniffed the cup, but on the inside. ‘Oh my gosh, is this p-poison?’ even in her thoughts she stutters.

                “Alphys, the tea is safe.” The child told him, she drank it and coughed a little. They looked if she’s okay, “I’m fine, I’m…” she coughs again. She drank the tea with one gulp to clear her throat. Coming from her thoughts, the idea of having a trilogy of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie was assumed to be the biggest downfall of the makers of that anime. With a sigh of relief, Alphys gave the empty cup back to Doc and thanked him. Doc puts away the used cups, leaving two clean ones. “Why don’t you and Bianca drink some, as well?” the Doctor offered. He goes back to the other room tent to put away the used ones. Frisk asked Alphys if she’s feeling better, “I’m feeling okay. Nothing special.” Toriel approached her and checked her heart rate. At that moment, Rance and Sans went in the tent to check on Frisk and the others.

                Alphys held a gasp when she saw the warrior approach her. On their last encounter, he gave her a piercing glare that frightened her to the core. Now, he walks closer towards her. She was sweating a lot and Bianca turned her attention to the warrior. Bianca steps at front to prevent him from coming closer with arms crossed below her chest, asking him “What did you do…?” the tone suggest that she knows that he did something to her. Rance ignored her and stepped to the side to proceed. “Hey! You can’t just— “she turns around to grab his arm just to stop him, but he kneeled down to face Alphys and bowed his head. “I’m sorry for what I did.” Toriel asked Sans what Rance did since she didn’t notice it. Sans pulled her closer to make her bend down and whispered to her ear. She stood up and went to Alphys side to comfort her. “Why did you look at me like that, before?” Alphys asked in a low tone of voice as she looked at him. Her hands were trembling, he looked at her and said “I… I can’t answer that.” he hesitated to speak as he looked away.

                Bianca pulls him away by the back of the collar but struggles to move him, “Come on, now. Let them rest for today without you making unnecessary tension.” His stern look on his face didn’t change. Instead of letting her drag him away little by little, he stood up and almost made her fall off. The nurse is a taller than Frisk, and Rance is almost as tall as Toriel. When he stood up, the nurse dangled on his back for a bit and let’s go, falling on the floor. “Ow, what was that for?!” she asked after she stood up and dusted off her uniform. Rance helped dust off her back but the way he did it has some force into it. “Don’t do that again, next time.” He mentioned. He faced Alphys again, “Like I was saying. I didn’t mean to glare at you. I… just got used to do that to other people.” He squinted his eyes and frowned to avoid eye contact. Alphys accepted his apology.

                “well, now that that’s out of the problem. wanna head to grillby’s, kid?” Sans suggested. Frisk nodded, but then Rance stopped them “Hold on, Princess. You need to stay in the camp site.” Toriel crossed her arms and looked at Sans with her foot thumping on the ground “Sans… Frisk needs to stay here. You can’t wander around.” If something were to happen while they go back underground, then Asgore’s efforts to have the humans allow them to make their city here would’ve been wasted. “he he he. it was worth the try, kid. can I lay down on one of your beds?” he pointed at a free unused bed. Bianca seem confused since she thought skeletons don’t really need sleep. “S-sure. Knock yourself out.” She hesitated; Sans jumped on the bed while his slippers flew down slowly, landing exactly on the outer right side of the bed.

                “if pap asks where I am, tell him I was with undyne.” He comfortably covers himself on a bedsheet as he rests. His grin hasn’t broken off even on his sleep, and just like before, his eye sockets acted like eyelids when he closed them. Bianca asked how he was doing that, and he replied with his shoulders raising up for a moment. She then turned her attention to Frisk and the other monsters, and they don’t know how to respond to it as well.

                Meanwhile, just at the South part of the camp, three farmers were running from the forest and towards two soldiers on patrol. They were pleading for help, as the guards asked what happened, they mentioned that their farm was attacked by two rogue monsters. One of the farmers had scratch wounds on his arm and it was still fresh. “Go alert the King with the problem, I’ll escort these people to the Medical Tent.” The other one nodded as he rushed off. The farmers weren’t aware but, as they pass through, they saw other people having conversations with monsters. In shock, they screamed in fear. Worst case scenarios were flying in as Mettaton in his initial form asked them what was going on. The soldier escorting the farmers explained with a terrible look on his face. “You’re planning this from the beginning, aren’t you?”

                The robot didn’t know how to respond to that, and suddenly lifted them towards the medical tent. ‘What’s happening? Why are some of the monsters attacking the humans?’ he asked himself. By the time they got there, Mettaton saw that Alphys had woken up. “Alphys, Toriel, there’s trouble!” he said while putting down the human farmers and the soldier escorting them. The villagers saw more monsters and panicked. Rance and Bianca rushed in to calm them down, and when one of them takes a step back towards the bed, he saw what appears to be a grinning skeleton. At that point, that person fainted and the doctor had to step in and shouted out, “What’s going on here?!”

                It took time for them to calm down, and had Rance explained the situation why the monsters are here. The villagers also explained their side. One soldier suddenly raised his voice and made an accusation, but Toriel and Alphys doesn’t know what he was talking about. Finally, Rance asked them. “Are your people still holding a grudge against humans, your Majesty?” Toriel doesn’t know how to respond to that. “Not anymore, after what Frisk did for everyone.” The villagers looked at her in disbelief. Another soldier entered the tent, “Rance Vor, you’re needed on the frontlines.”

                The two kings had entered the tent; there it seems to be just the right space Frisk’s father to station in a large mass of soldiers for meetings, the large round table and the outer ring stand makes it look like the knights of the round table’s holding ground. In other words, the biggest tent is not his for luxury purposes where he could rest ease for himself, it’s their standing ground in making a war plan. The outer tent looks thick, but from the inside it is slightly transparent. Ensuring that if an ambush is planned, they can react to it more effectively. It may not look like it, but King Farlon is not someone to be messed with, Asgore thought. Undyne and her companions were amazed how the humans had planned it all out.

                King Farlon, the man standing as the ruler of the human capital of the country, and also the father of Frisk had asked them to sit with them at the round table. The table is large enough for ten people, and the outer ring had enough space to make a pathway for the middle. In how many people can be established for the meeting on the outer ring, it would be around thirty. In what Undyne can tell, each stand for the outer ring had a silver plating, and on the round table, there are golden triangles pointing at the person who sits behind it. It makes sense that the soldiers who will be attending the conference has a certain title. To put it to words, the outer ring are ranked leaders of a squad, while the round table are where elites are seated, The King and the Royal Guards.

                “Have a seat here.” King Farlon asked them as he point towards the monsters. They had seated accordingly, on where King Asgore and Undyne sat had an initial of “S” in between them, and behind them was the entrance. King Farlon had nodded to ask his two Royal Guards to be seated to theirs. The two had seated apart and just next to the other Royal Guards. Where they sat had the initial pointers “W” and “E”. At that moment, King Farlon had called for his intelligence expert. They assumed that it is someone that they don’t know. But that person entered, they turn around to see someone familiar. She walked forward with a stern look on her face. “Her?!” Undyne couldn’t believe it, and Asgore smiled at her. When she noticed the King of monsters smiled, she rushed in and hugged him. “It’s good to see you, again. Dianne.” He said with relief. Undyne was shock in disbelief when she saw Dianne as she replied, “Hello again, Mr. Asgore.” She was so cheerful and energetic when she saw that she’ll be having a meeting with them. “Hello, the Head of the Royal Guards.” She continued, let go of him as she walked to the side and took her seat on King Farlon’s left side.

                “Asgore, you knew?!” Undyne furiously asked Asgore. “There was no mistaking that human Dianne is not just someone who is fast and supportive to human Rance.” He said while facing her as he continued, “I had a weird feeling when she comforted me. But I can tell she had no attempts to backstab anyone.” King Farlon sits on his chair and whispered something to Dianne. She turned and nodded with a cheery smile. “Dianne is a good person. She would do what she can to help those in need.” King mentioned as he smiles toward them. The two other Royal Guards from both parties did not say a word. On just the right side where the King sat had an initial “N”.

                From that good vibes, it looks like everything might come out okay, but King Farlon had changed the mood. “Now then. Let’s get to the point.” The first two words were still okay, but his tone went dead serious and Dianne placed clamped her hands to each other, looking at them from a cheerful point of view to a serious one. The atmosphere around them gave off an unnecessary tension, as if a Trial Underground had started. Asgore was prepared for the consequences either way as he looks back at them, and Undyne had to match up so that she wouldn’t look bad in front of Frisk’s father. ‘Why do I get the feeling that this is the reason why Frisk left her home in the first place? Damn brat.’ The discussion had just begun.

                “Dianne had already told me in advance that you are planning to make a home on the surface.” King Farlon starts off with that topic, and then he continued. “But before I would consider allowing that, may we ask why your kind had been attacking our farmers and other humans who live apart from our home?” That question just raised some concerns; normally all the monsters are living underground and they had been stuck there for a long time, and had no means of escaping. “How can we respond to that? All of us had been trapped underground with no means of getting up to the surface, until your daughter helped us break it.” RG03 countered the king’s question. “We can’t be convinced that our kind had attacked yours without evidence.” RG04 supports, at that point Asgore was starting to think that the humans are making up reasons to prevent them from living in the surface.

                Dianne took out a number of photos from her pouch with dated years written at the back. She slipped them towards the monsters, and as they collect them they saw the tragic events that had happened. The first picture was around the early 19XX where a fire elemental monster had burned three houses and a large field of crops, another one from the same year that appeared to be a flock of birds with weird shapes for a head had scared off barn animals, and four more that were almost hard to describe, but one shows that someone got frozen. At that time, their cameras were primitively black and white, so that it couldn’t be put up in color even if they want to. The last one was colored; it indicates that it was around 20XX, and in the picture, there were two dead bodies lying on the ground with blood spray on the wooden wall, and two piles of dust just next to them. “The last one was the most violent attack from your kind.” The Royal Guard on the “E” pointer spoke.

                “This… This doesn’t make any sense…” King Asgore couldn’t believe what he’s seeing. All those monsters were familiar. “All of these monsters went missing after we lost the war and driven underground.” Undyne noticed that on the last picture, it didn’t show what monsters that attacked there. “Why does this one only show a pile of dust, while the human’s body aren’t there?” The other Royal Guard pointed at “W” responded to that. “Because by the time we got there, it was already too late. The couple were already killed with a large bite hole on their necks, and the monsters were reduced to dust. Those two victims were very good people. The monsters however, they were identified as yellow reptilians.” The other Royal Guard continued, “At first, there were four of them. Two reptile monsters, and a big brown wolf monster. We tried to fend them off from attacking, but the two were too fast and were able to slip by. When we got to a villager’s farm, we heard a young boy cry out.” Asgore looks at the picture again, and saw that someone sitting at the corner. “And then it was too late…” when he pointed it out, that child was holding a pitchfork.

                Undyne looked closer and noticed that the boy was somehow familiar. “These monsters that had attacked your kind had been assumed dead because they’ve been missing for a long time.” Asgore explained his side and looked at Farlon. “That is what most people would think, especially when they had lost the war.” The other king had mentioned, was that salt in the wound for the monsters? Undyne was losing her cool, but her majesty tapped her shoulder to calm down. “If that is the case, then we should have had retaliated if we were able to roam to the surface in the first place.” He stated. “But we couldn’t do anything about it. If you are able to find any holes that could actually help us get out of the surface before the barrier was broken, then by all means.” He raised both his hands just apart from each other, with his hands clenched into a fist. Undyne and her comrades stood up and told him, “No, your Majesty!”

                King Asgore said with confidence, “The only hole you’ll see are the entrance where the barrier was newly brought down by your daughter, and the large one that we couldn’t escape through because of the barrier.” King Farlon stood up, slamming both hands on the table, “HOW DARE YOU USE MY DAUGHTER FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR FREEDOM.” His two guards stood up from their seats, everyone else but Asgore and Dianne were standing. He is had both his hands extended towards King Farlon, asking if he really is guilty, he should be taken away. Dianne intervened, “If they are really using Frisk for the sake of their freedom, then they would have disposed of her afterwards and proceeded with a large scale invasion.” She stated calmly, everyone looked at her. “Rance also told me that they care for her. They didn’t harm her in any way.” What she said was a lie. Frisk worked her way to the capital with few scratches, and with Undyne’s careless talk, it was clear obvious that Frisk was indeed harmed.

                King Farlon sits down as he massaged his forehead to relieve the fatigue. Everyone else had seated. “What she said was true. And Frisk was the reason why we considered that not all humans are bad.” Undyne said as she sighed. It was a clear silence for less than ten seconds, as they processed what was just mentioned. “I couldn’t even comprehend that Princess Frisk could be this naïve.” The Royal Guard pointed at “W” mentioned. “I… apologize for my behavior.” King Farlon said with regret and Asgore finally puts down his hands to the table. “It’s okay. You’re forgiven.” He smiled gullibly, he really is a good king, Farlon thought. “Going back to the topic, are you sure that you are not leading them, there?” The Guard sitting on where the “E” points out.

                “No. When we lost the war, we tried our best to live to the fullest underground. We never consider waging more war, since we were no match for your kind.” Asgore replied. He was too sincere with that one. “If you and your kind are to live in the surface. Will you promise not to attack our people?” King Farlon asks if he could make a promise. “Right now, we need to find where the rogue monsters are. And put a stop to their attacks.” Both different guards looked at one another, Undyne looked at Dianne and King Farlon, while Dianne looks back at them. “If possible, the humans and monsters can co-exist peacefully for once.” King Farlon suggested. It was about to put to a conclusion to the discussion, as he nodded at two of his Royal Guards; that means that they can have their city build on the surface, legally and by his word. Just when they are about to stand up from their seats to have the two kings shake hands, Dianne spotted someone running towards the tent entrance. A soldier came in running with news. “My King, monsters are attacking the southern farm!”

                They looked at one another in disbelief, the rogue monsters are back at it again, and just when everything was slowly progressing for the better, some things had to ruin it for the worse. Someone at the sidelines seem to be laughing with joy.

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put up some easter eggs for fun. But for those who doesn't know, well. Hehehe.


	9. Unnecessary Conflicts

                “Rance Vor. You’re needed on the frontlines.” It could only mean one thing: he’s needed to take down monsters. His facial expression became gray, and nod to agree. At that point he wore his helmet and proceeded to exit the medical tent. Frisk ran to him and pulled his hand, asking if he’s going to take a life. Unable to make a proper response, all while looking at her made his gut felt like it twisted into a knot. He kneels down and gave her a pat on the head. “Don’t worry, it won’t take too long….. We adults need to deal with the problem…. You and your friends stay here and rest up…. I’ll be right back.” All he could say while he smiles at her. The warrior stood up and turns around. That smile faded into a grim face.

                The soldier asked him, “Will it really be okay? This is a monster attack at another farm site.” Rance glared at him; it was something that soldier didn’t expect to see. The warrior noticed his subordinate’s fear and looks away, “Relay this message to all personnel. Switch their lethal ammunition to Suppressive fire…. After seeing how these monsters really act, there should be a way to stop them from attacking.” While they walk, King Farlon and the rest of his soldiers have rode on their horses and without a moment to lose, they’ve dispatched towards the target site. King Asgore, Undyne, and the rest of the Royal Guards on horses have also made a move while under the two other human Royal Guards’ supervision. At the moment Rance sees his sister come by, a moment later while horsemen were passing by they disappeared.

 

                While they dash across the road, Undyne was bothered by that picture she saw. Without even noticing, her King was running late, only because horses can’t run as fast as they should when they’re carrying a heavy monster. King Asgore gets down from his horse, puts his cloak on its back and had the other soldiers take care of it. “What are you doing?” the human Royal Guard asked. “Do not worry, human. I will just run there.” While more of the horsemen soldiers dash through, he ran with them. Surprisingly, for his size, he could dash like that. Undyne and the rest were rather amazed that the king still going strong after all these years. They all proceeded, and in the midst of dashing, he caught up with King Farlon.

                “You’re looking rather lively, King Asgore.” King Farlon spoke while they focus on the road, all while the other soldiers couldn’t believe that the king could sprint this fast. They shouldn’t be surprise; he is the King of the Underground. “It has been some time since I had a proper work out.” He replied. At that moment, they both laughed for feeling old. “It has been some time, but if I could only be as fast as you, we would be running a marathon.” The other soldiers are feeling rather awkward that two kings still had time for small talk. What Asgore doesn’t know was the Farlon’s condition, since he didn’t witness how the warrior and the rogue begged for Frisk to go home. “King Farlon, what will you do those rogue monsters when we get there?”

                “Based from Rance’s observation and judgment from you all, he gave the option to just have them caught and interrogated….” They were getting close, and Asgore seem to be having doubts about the human king’s intention. What he said didn’t really made sense at first, either that or the king was too focused on their destination. “Then we will aid you, and we will do our fair share of questioning.” They’ve arrived, formed a circular formation around the small farm and had unmounted from their horses. Everyone had arrived to see two familiar monsters. Two brown wolf monsters with torn clothes, eating the vegetation the farmers had been growing. In that moment, the two siblings had arrived by foot and had jumped at front with their heads covered by helmet and veil. On their case, they jumped from one tree up to another. It’s ridiculous how the two did just that to get there, and from Undyne’s estimation, it was around more than a mile from the camp. ‘I was around 14 that time, so they gave me 40 pounds per part. And they kept increasing the weight each time we start to move normally with our current weights’ Undyne recalled Rance telling her that. And to what she could see with Dianne, it looked like she had the same training.

                King Farlon, the King who rules the surface and the humans of the country, is taller than Undyne and Rance, and had a good physique. His Hair is brown and somewhat long and has a silver ring just after the mid part to prevent his hair from spreading. He also had a mustache and not too long of a beard. His complexion is fair, but because humans have a certain age wherein they gain wrinkles can’t be avoided. In his case, his forehead had some lines as his eyebags are giving an impression. His attire was of bronze and silver plating armor from neck to toe, with a Royal Red color cape. In his belt he has a silver rapier that is almost a blade-weapon sheathed on the left side, and the hilt and handle were colored red with a familiar insignia. In what Asgore can tell from Farlon’s stance, he is highly skilled in close combat. But given his situation, he wouldn’t be able to move that much.

                The two Royal Guards who participated in the discussion are heavily armored. By glance they resemble that of Duke Knights, but they look heavier than the usual with what they wear. They are identical in design, but their weapon of choices and color of armor are different. One had a green colored armor, with a large crossbow and three pole arrows attached at the bottom. It can also be used as a pick axe based on the steel attachment. While the other one who had a dark blue color had a strange looking mace. It looked like it was made with hardwood, but instead of a ball and spikes at the edge, it looked like a long torch igniter, almost like a thick paddle or a slim and long barrel-shape.

                “All men, ready your suppressive fire!” They took out their rifles behind them and equipped what seem to be battery-based magazine for their rifles. The two Royal Guards had gone up ahead from the side to advance and to look for survivors; the other two followed, all while Rance was looking at the rogue monsters. In what he could see with his keen eye, the monsters are regurgitating the food while they look for more. The wolf monsters seem to have been starving for a while, and they can’t help but to feel like attack someone’s farm just to eat. He doesn’t have a weapon at the moment, so anything he could find around should be enough for him.

                The soldiers had readied their rifles and pointed towards the two who are wildly eating the crops. Asgore nods his head lightly while at the back of his mind, he’s allowing them to fire at his kind. He has to trust them for them to trust him back. “Fire!” King Farlon commanded, everyone fired small bolts of electricity that accurately landed unto the two wolf monsters. The charges seem to be around tolerable voltage, as it only caused minor shock and made them immobile. The two monsters are paralyzed, at the time being giving some space for the human Royal Guards to approach the houses. Dianne went to the barn, while the three others went to a two-story farmhouse. “You might ask why I asked them to rescue instead of fighting at front? We might not know if there are more hiding.” Farlon commented to Asgore. At that moment, the wolf monsters had shaken off their furs as static discharge fly off. They’ve already regained consciousness and proceeded to dash through the soldiers.

                At that moment, Undyne summoned up several spears to serve as a blockade to prevent the enemy from advancing further, while giving enough space for them to fire their bolts. One of them with a torn delta rune robe had jumped high, and ready his claws to swipe the human King. Farlon didn’t flinch, as he readied his Rapier at his side. Asgore conjured his Red Trident and went up front to defend his companion. He blocked the attacker and pushed him off, but without even realizing, the wolf monster was about to fall unto Undyne’s conjured spears. She immediately turned her attention and made them fade into water, and because she turned her attention, the other one with burnt Delta Rune robe rammed her to the ground.

RG01 and RG02 went in separate ways, and in response RG03 and RG04 went to position. The four are cornering the wolf monster, and soon after they all sprinted with their shoulder aiming at their opponent. It looked like a four-way collision, but it didn’t work very well. The wolf jumped up high and avoided the collision and then cocked his right arm. They didn’t necessarily clash with one another, and they stopped before any of them get to hit each other. As they looked up, their opponent punched the middle ground and created an impact, that knocked them out. Their opponent wasn’t all that impressed with their teamwork.

                The soldiers continued to fire, but it became significantly less effective than before. It’s either they fired too much rounds that drained their battery cartridges or the attacking monsters have become too enraged to feel any pain. Asgore goes toe to toe with one of the wolf monsters while Farlon blocks off some of its attack, and Undyne and her Royal Guard companions are doing their best to restrain the other. The rogue wolf monster was aiming at the King as it rushed through. Asgore didn’t react fast enough that his opponent got too close, but Farlon doesn’t mind. In fact, just when the claws are going to swipe, a single swing with his rapier seem to look like it was more than ten, and the attacker was sent back with three of his claws were cleanly cut off and one of them started to bleed. King Farlon swipes down to make a taunt, and then points it up with his right hand while his left was at the back. He is holding back for a reason, as he makes a fierce stand, “En garde.”

                Time is passing by, and the wolf monsters seem to become more aggressively faster and stronger than they were before. King Farlon swiped his rapier to stop his opponent from advancing, while Asgore thrusts his trident. Asgore noticed that the human Royal Guards have finally retrieved the farmer’s family members and they are escorting them out. Rance looked at several soldiers and nodded, and they went to help him out. While he takes out a plank wood and will be using it as his backup weapon.

                Undyne and her team are becoming exhausted, and not only because she’s facing an aggressive opponent but also because she hadn’t recover enough strength from the spar that she and the Warrior had a while ago. The rogue monster punched her gut, that made her fall on the ground, crouched in pain as her spear fades into water. The others were no match as they were all wounded and knocked out; before RG02 blacks out, he saw that the wolf monster’s eyes were glowing in crimson red. The rest of the soldiers keep firing, but it seems to be useless now that it looked like it’s no longer having any effect. Undyne struggles to get up, but she couldn’t. Her opponent was about to deal a finishing blow, but then a sound of chains extending could be heard from the back.

                The wolf monster struggled to make a finishing blow, but chains tangling into his arm seemed to have saved Undyne from dying on the line of duty. To be specific, Dianne Vor’s chainblades stopped him from swiping. The other Royal Guard with a crossbow sheathed behind him charges in from the side and rams the wolf monster. Unfortunately, the knockback wasn’t enough and the attacker planted his feet down to prevent him from being pushed any further. Dianne dashed to the side and made used of her chains around the wolf’s arm to stop him from attacking. She noticed it that her opponent with the burnt robes like to use his right arm for attacking, and left for grabbing as he struggles to push back the tank.

                “Undyne, Get up!” Dianne struggles to pull the monster, but she could seem to hold on much longer. Meanwhile, the other one with the torn robes steps back by both King Asgore and King Farlon’s attacks. The human king makes a blurred swing that seemed like it was only one hit and at that moment, the wolf monster mistakenly predicted his strike and immediately dodged back with him biting his tongue, all while his men behind him fire their bolts at the opponent. “Grraaahhh!!!” the wolf monster roared as he looked at Asgore. “Have you rost your sense of druty for your people, Asgore?!” it spoke with rage with his mouth bleeding. Asgore didn’t falter as he swings his trident to knock his opponent to the ground. “You two have gone missing after we were all sent to the Underground. You’ve run away from your families and duties. While I’ve done my part to do my best and give hope to our people who are rotting in despair!” His eyes were glimmering as fireballs were appearing at the side. King Asgore is infuriated. At any moment, he could fire his attacks and knock his opponent unconscious due to the heat.

                “Now, you pray as the human prawns… You’ve bertrayed our people…!” In retaliation, he pointed his trident and one fireball had scorched the remaining Delta Rune sign on his opponent’s chest, the burning sensation on his chest is nowhere near the burning sensation that’s piling up in him. “You will stop this nonsense… **Even if I were to burn you to submission.** ” His flames of red turned blue, and it’s a sign that if the wolf monster makes a move, he’s done for.  Asgore’s opponent stomped on the ground and cracks began to form, and his eyes were glaring in crimson red. At that moment, he realized it.

[The two wolf monsters had gained **_Determination_** as they synchronized]

The cracks extended to the side made by the two King’s opponent, up to his other companion and when the chained monster stomps at the crack, a massive flare fires out from the crack holes, followed by a close range explosion. It disrupted everyone, and at that moment the two Wolf monsters were able to flee. Asgore’s flames faded and immediately ran towards Undyne to tend to their wounds. The King and the heavy Royal Guard tend to their soldier’s needs. And at that moment, Toriel arrives at the scene. She ran towards Undyne and her Royal Guards to use her healing spell. And then tend to the human’s wounds.

Asgore asked, “Tori. Why are you here?” Toriel looks back to Asgore and said, “Sans knew a shortcut.” With that said, Papyrus arrives at the scene to help everyone else. The soldiers were startled at the joyful skeleton that they immediately pointed their rifles at him. “Stand down, men.” King Farlon commanded as he sheaths his rapier to his side of the belt. Papyrus helps Undyne up, and she asked. “When you mean by shortcut. You mean….”

 

At the forest north east, just near the stone walls of Mt. Ebott, Rance and the other heavily armored Royal Guard safely escorts three people. One young male, just about below Rance’s age, one young girl and their mother. “So, our father was able to make it to the camp?” the brother asked. “They did.” Rance didn’t hesitate to answer as they proceed. Five soldiers reloaded their usual lead bullet magazines to their rifles as they proceed. One of the soldiers looked at Rance and remembered the look on his face when he asked him earlier. It was that type of serious look that could mean something.

“Let’s just hope the two rogue monsters are captured and executed.” One other soldier happily suggests, the other one agreed. Rance stopped on his track, and didn’t dare to look back at his subordinates. “Let me ask you this. Would you have your brothers executed if they were to attack the innocent for no good reason, or simply stop them and ask why they did it?” They took the obvious answer, and then Rance turned around. “I may not have the least empathy for them, but the Princess understood and made peace with them at the Underground. If we could understand why they attacked them, then we wouldn’t need to take their lives.”

They looked down, but the farmer’s son retorted. “Are you saying that we should make peace with **those monsters**?!” he went up front to confront Rance and grabbed him by the collar. Rance grabbed both of his hands and pulled them away with no other facial expression. He looks serious, as he replied. “Back there, our King and their King is fighting alongside to stop those rogue monsters from causing any more harm. Meaning to say, the King of the Underground had submitted himself to fight alongside us and take down the rogue monsters.”

‘Here’s a debriefing of what happened during the discussion. It appeared to be that these recent random string of monster attacks are monsters that went rogue and escaped the sealing. King Asgore swore on his behalf that there will be no coup d’etat or any form of war that will happen.’ Dianne reported to Rance while they were jumping from one tree up to the other to get to their destination. As much as they won’t believe it, from saying that it might be a staged one or a diversion, Rance replied “Even if it’s staged. If they make a move on us, **they’ll be dead where they stand**.” Those words sent a chill to their spines, but his other Royal Guard companion didn’t react. Just behind the trees, Sans and Frisk were watching close by, and Sans wasn’t too happy when Rance made that statement as his left eye socket gave a blue fiery glow. “ **…that was my line, meat puppet.**” Frisk asked Sans to calm down, and he did with a sigh while closing his eyesockets. He rubs his head and sat down by the big roots of the trees. Frisk continues to watch from the bushes as they continue to follow.

                From the side of the road, bushes were rustling and branches were snapping. There jumps out the two wounded wolf monsters, and by surprise one of the soldiers had fired their rifle upward. Causing a loud echo, the two retaliated with an intimidating growl and swiped their claws at them. They were knocked out unconscious, giving Rance an assumption that they’re still sane. As much as it looked ridiculous, Rance equipped the wooden plank piece, while his heavily armored friend readied his hardwood mace. The two wolf monsters made an assault on the other people first, as the tank guard takes up front to block. The warrior swings his wood upwards, sending the burnt clothes monster flying up.

                The captives cheered for them as they take action. Rance was holding back, Sans can tell when he glanced by at the fight. The two kept charging in relentlessly at the warrior. “YORU!” one of them spoke as he glared at him. The two made a simultaneous tag team attack, striking Rance in different directions all while ignoring everyone else. The soldiers are knocked out, and when the other Royal Guard tries to jump in and join the fight, he’s knocked backed by the agility the two wolf monsters let out. Rance keeps on blocking and countering; this kind of attack would be easy enough for him to dodge on but something was holding him back. It was noticeable, and when that happened.

                “Ignoring me is your grave mistake.” The heavy tanker starts to spin with his hardwood mace and creates himself a violent cyclone. It did slow the wolves down, but it didn’t stop them from doing the next worst thing. The two pushed Rance to the side and went on a forward line between the tanker, and stomped their foot to the ground. The ground slowly cracked towards the other Royal Guard while he spins, trying to pull them into his cyclone. When Rance came to his senses, he noticed something wasn’t right. Both the monsters had glowing crimson eyes, “Get out of there, Fang!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, but it was too late. A burst of flare, and an explosion sent him flying towards the stone wall at the side while dropping his weapon on the ground. They ran for cover, but the young girl sat on the ground and covered her head in panic. Rance’s companion got stuck on the wall, created a crack and three stones began to fall.

                The brother went back to pull away his young sibling, but he forgot to move away as he was caught on it. One fell directly to the guy’s head and the other one fell on the back of his leg as he falls down. The last one didn’t hit anyone, but the two knocked the brother out cold, as his head bleeds. The younger sibling went to her brother as she tries to wake him up. “Big brother, wake up!” She kept repeating as she starts crying, trying to wake him up. At that moment, her voice echoed to Rance’s head. He remembered something.

                The warrior stood in shock, while everything else seem to have stopped. The mother tries to snap him back, but he couldn’t hear anyone else but the younger sibling. The two monsters turned their attention to the brother since the smell of blood was on the air. Frisk wanted to help, but she couldn’t. Sans wouldn’t allow it; he was going to step out and help but then rapid loud stomps began approaching the two monsters.

                Out of nowhere, Rance heavily swings his wooden plank and broke it into a million pieces. The sudden spike stopped one of them as that opponent cries out in pain, as he falls to the ground, yelping like a dog; that was no ordinary swing. The mother was brought joy at first when the warrior steps in, but then her joy suddenly became fear as a terrifying chill went to her when he sees him. His facial expression is full of anger and hatred while he grits his teeth, and his eyes were in pure crimson red. It was similar to the two wolf monsters’.

[ **Recalling the past events, Rance regained his _Determination to Kill_** ]

                When the young girl saw her mother look terrified, she then looked at Rance who was in front of her. His left hand had an almost demolished wood piece, while his right hand had that mace. His hands are trembling and from the young girl’s distance, he could hear him breathing deeply. “..N…north….” the tank struggles to talk some senses, but in his state, he can’t be reasoned with. He blurs out while loud feet stomps are approaching the two wolf monsters, he blurs off and makes a heavy swing to the standing wolf’s leg. When he landed a hit, the mother heard how hard it was as the attacker screams out. It sent him kneeling down up to a point that it bowed down, before the wolf could reach out to his legs, another attack followed, an upward swing towards the stomach sent him flying as he spills out both saliva and blood to the ground. The other one growls tremendously as he attacks Rance. But then he blurred again, the other one looks around and then noticed one of his foot stomps at the side.

                The one with burnt robes strike to his left and caught the Warrior by the neck. He was going to snap him into two through strangulation, but when he noticed something about the human that he hesitated. Rance immediately swings diagonal and it made the wolf let go of him. At that point, the attacker struggles to regain his left arm’s senses as the warrior’s attack made it numb. Without warning, he slams the mace to the wolf’s side of his face that sent him flying towards the wall. The wolf constrict himself while his ears and head were ringing; he held his head with his right as he yelps in pain. Everyone even the outside of the vicinity could hear how loud he cries in pain. When the other one regained his air, Rance slammed the mace at hand, that also sent him to the wall and landed on top of his companion. But this time, the swing was too hard that it broke the top part, and that wolf monster made one loud yelp, before losing consciousness.

                It was already done, the soldiers who were knocked out regained consciousness as they stood but when they looked around the two monsters were knocked at the side, while the mother and daughter who are separated looked more petrified and terrified. They saw the Royal Guard stuck at the top part of the wall as he looks down. They looked down to see Rance limping, slowly approaching the two monsters while dragging what’s left of the mace. At that point, his intentions are understood and Frisk can no longer stand around and watch him take those monsters’ lives. The soldiers stood and approached him, warning him to stop. But he was at a point beyond recognition.

                Frisk came out of hiding and tries to pull the enraged Royal Guard. But he still proceeds to walk. In his mind, the nightmare he had and all the sadness he took in came into a reality. That was the only thing flashing in his mind, all while recalling his parents’ death in front of him. One of the soldiers carried Frisk away, “No, your Highness. He seems to have lost his mind.” She struggles away as they separate her, until she kicked the soldier’s pride and got him to let her go. Frisk has no other options left, so she did the next worst thing.

Frisk ran out of hiding, and confronted his guard. “Rance, please stop this!” she raised both hands to the side to block his way. At that moment, the warrior was too enraged to think that Frisk has to scream her lungs out to knock him back to his senses. “Please, stop! You told them that you won’t kill the monsters, that is why you didn’t bring any weapons!” Frisk continues to beg for mercy. “You don’t have to do this. They’ve lost already. So, please… Don’t hurt them anymore!” She’s either courageous or foolish, but it seems that her words are slowly sinking into him; Rance begins to quietly hesitate. He shook his head trying to regain his sanity.

                One of the wolves are starting to regain their senses, and what he saw was something he couldn’t believe. A young girl defending them against the warrior. At that point, Rance’s glowing eyes are starting to flicker from his helmet. In his condition, he’s badly injured and a single movement can cause him to flinch, due to the heavy blows he received. The warrior’s attention was at Frisk, as he hears his own beating heart. Little by little, he’s regaining his senses as her words echoed to his mind.

Rance lost his rage and dropped what he was holding and fell on the ground. Soon, tears were seen flowing down from his helmet as he collapses, falling on his knees as he looks at Frisk. Soon after, he could finally hear everything else. The deafening wrath that he had finally ended, as he looks down to the ground. “….Heheh…heh….. The irony…. I gave everyone the command to hold back…. And… I was the first to break it….” He tries to laugh it off while he cries, as he couldn’t speak continuously because he’s at his vulnerable state. Frisk gave him a tight hug. She could feel the unnatural warmth from his tears. She told him that everything’s going to be alright.

                Now that she mentioned it, Rance recalled that Toriel had healing powers. But that won’t do to someone who died. The soldiers came to pick up the siblings, and by checking the brother’s pulse, he’s still hanging on. “He’s still okay, but he needs medical attention. Stat!” one of them gave the unconscious boy a piggyback ride, ensuring that he wouldn’t fall off. While the others helped the mother and young girl reunite. At that point, he felt relieved that he was able to do what he could to save them. But at that moment, he could see one of the wolf monsters reaching out to Frisk. Despite that he’s still feeling pain while his other companion weighing on top of him, his eyes haven’t stopped glowing. The wolf monster is determined to swipe at her by crawling to them.

                Frisk doesn’t know, and they couldn’t move away on their current state. Rance’s body felt heavy as he couldn’t stand up and back off by at least a few feet away. Instead of moving away, he turned around while tightly hugging Frisk back. “North, no!” the other guard who was stuck on the wall shouted. Frisk saw the wolf monster about to swipe Rance from behind. She struggles to get away to stop him from attacking, but Rance made sure she couldn’t do anything reckless. What she did to calm him down was already reckless enough, and he couldn’t think of any other possibility as to how she got to the forest by herself. So the least he could do is to save her from harm. At that moment, the voice of King Farlon echoed in his mind as he closed his eyes.

                ‘Rance Vor. Will you swear oath that you will protect my daughter from any danger?’ he could picture it on his mind, as the King stands tall in front and between the two thrones while the Queen was at her side. He was bowing down to them, as he was given the most difficult task of them all. It was an honor to make a vow, even if it means that he will die protecting her. ‘I will.’

Sans was there, watching how it goes. He doesn’t mind him dying, as long as Frisk isn’t harmed. But because she saw the danger herself, he was going in for the save. Before the claws had reached him, a barrage of white fireballs just from the Cliffside had rain down on them. Another monster attack? It distracted the wolf monster as he was interrupted. At that point, he lost his strength to strike. His _determination_ had faded as well as his vision. Everyone looked at the Cliffside and had a short glance of a small white-fur monster. It ran away before anyone else could see that monster entirely. It looked like someone pulled it away.

                At that moment, the cavalry from the farm site had arrived. Along with Toriel and Papyrus riding Asgore’s horse. When the mother and young sister saw the King with the monsters, they screamed in fear. But then, Papyrus tried to cheer them both up. Unfortunately, the mother fell unconscious when she saw a tall gagging skeleton. Sans had to go to his side and then. “damn pap, you scared them to the bone.” Papyrus held his head from shivering in annoyance. “OH MY GOD, SANS! WHY MUST YOU RUIN THE MOMENT?” as he faced his hands to the front in expression. The young sibling giggled as the two skeletons looked. At least, they were able to cheer her up. The two Kings, and Toriel rushed to Frisk as they all asked in Unison. “Frisk! Are you okay?!” they were all worried, but Frisk gave a thumbs up. Rance was still tightly hugging her while looking down on the ground.

                Dianne and the other Royal Guard went up to the Cliffside to see how they’ll free the trapped tank guard. But then, while she was looking from above, she noticed white fur stuck in between the rocks. She took out small sealable evidence bag and puts the fur there. Toriel went to tend the injured brother, and that person seemed to have felt relieved. The monster Royal Guards as well as the other soldiers had secured the two rogue monsters, and Undyne gave Papyrus a noogy in front of the young girl; it cheered her up even though she’s seeing monsters act natural. Sans also laughs it off with more jokes. It was all going to end well, until Sans turned around and noticed that both Asgore and Farlon kneeled down to see if Rance is okay. When they both looked at each other and nodded, they pry off his arms off of Frisk, and got her free. While the warrior himself fell on the ground while his helmet was knocked off.

Rance wasn’t moving, and he’s barely breathing. On the side of his neck, there’s a burn mark that is a shape of a flower. He never had a proper rest when he was on the search for Frisk for three days straight, even if he’s asked to rest. And he only had a few hours of sleep after he found her at the Underground. To make matters worse, he overexerted himself on the spar as well as when he confronted and dealt massive blows to the two. King Farlon immediately stood up and looked around, then he saw that there are too many soldiers securing the unconscious monsters. “The three of you, get North to the medical tent. NOW!” He rushed them, and they reacted accordingly.

At that time, Sans approached the King and said. “hey, king. can i lead them to the tent? i know a shortcut.”

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here writing another chapter for the Seed of Flowey. I personally wrote this chapter not to make any significant human-monster social or friendly development due to the rogue monsters attacking. I haven't thought up for a good name for both WM01 and WM02, so I went to that. 
> 
> If you guys have any comments, suggestion, just comment that or tweet to @Roku_Takeru what you think of the story, with or without the #SeedOfFlowey tag. 
> 
> Also, if you noticed, there's a significant difference between _determination_ and **DETERMINATION**.  
>  [UPDATE[ For those who are wondering what was going on in Asriel and Monster Kid's journey, here's the link.  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/6910705/chapters/16293293


	10. The Roots that grew too Deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, I've re-edited most of the chapters and added some details. As of now, the story will be on Hiatus until I finish the extras.

                It was a slow march back to the camp, Farlon allows Frisk to ride the horse with her, all while the others follow. The two rogue monsters and Rance were immediately escorted back to the camp by one of Sans’ shortcut route, along with the two other tank guards and his sister. Asgore let Papyrus and Toriel ride his horse as he walks by their side. “I hope they made it to the camp okay…” Toriel looks down worrying, Papyrus holding on the reins as he looked back to Toriel. “THEY SHOULD BE FINE, YOUR HIGHNESS. ALTHOUGH IT’S ALSO RARE FOR HIM NOT TO BE LAZY FOR ONCE.” his cheerful expression made her giggle. Asgore intervenes with the conversation, “Papyrus, where did Sans learn that ability?” as he walks with them. The soldiers and King Farlon are also listening, “I DON’T REALLY KNOW. HE ALWAYS HAD THAT ABILITY FOR A LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER.” Papyrus answered, while looking up. Asgore brushed his beard while he looks down as he walks; he never does that unless he thinks too deep.

                “Is something bothering you, King Asgore?” King Farlon and Frisk walked with him; he lends his horse to the farmer’s family. “That picture you showed us… Was that him?” Asgore asked him in a low tone of voice. Farlon looked away from the other king and looked forward to where they are walking with a sigh, “Yes, It’s him. That was Rance.“ At that moment, Undyne left her horse and rushed in. Toriel and Papyrus also followed without unmounting. Undyne went with them and asked rudely, “Is that the reason why you made him a Royal Guard? For him to become a monster killing machine?!” Farlon frowned without looking back. She just ticked him off bad, and Asgore placed his hand unto her shoulders to make light taps, shaking his head to stop. “I’m sorry for asking that.”

                “It’s okay. False accusations are nothing more than the lower-class’ whispers.” His reply aggravated Undyne. But Frisk pulled her arm, shook his head to Undyne to stop. “Is it because of his skills?” Undyne changed her question. Farlon nodded once. No more questions followed as they reached the camp, at that moment the monsters rushed to the medical tent to tend the injuries of the two rogue monsters, as well as to see if the warrior is okay, there was a panic with the rescued farmers. When they got there, Alphys, Bianca and Doc Mercy were running out of the tent. “What’s wrong? What happened?!” Undyne asked. They fear that the wolves got loose and started attacking again.

                “It’s Rance!” Alphys looked terrified. Undyne, Papyrus, Toriel, King Asgore, King Farlon, and Frisk rushed inside. They see Sans holding both hands down to the ground, with a bone blockade while panting in exhaustion looking forward with his left eye glowing in blue and at the same time his mouth was bleeding, on his side was Dianne unconscious on the ground with her chestplate shattered, while over the blockade two of the Royal Guards defending the unconscious wolves. In other words, Rance was fighting them with just bare fists. “Rance, get a hold of yourself!” The green armored tank guard calls for him to snap out of it, while the blue one is doing his best to guard against his sequenced attack. His eyes were like red blinking lights while he struggles to get pass the two tanks. He’s been saying the same words over and over, “ ** _I CAN’T FORGIVE, I CAN’T FORGIVE, I CAN’T FORGIVE!_** ” Sans mentioned something, “you humans mentioned something about the red moon, correct?” he struggles to talk but at the same time, he had to focus all his attention in maintaining a bone cage blockade.

                “Sans, open one path. We’ll do what we can to subdue the human!” Undyne rushed, but Sans shook his head to refuse her request. “Why not?!” she exclaimed but he didn’t answer. Everyone wanted to help, but he refused. “Sans, I order you to let us pass!” Toriel states in a commanding tone, “sorry tori. but the human is too strong. even stronger than undyne.” Sans couldn’t let them pass as the enraged human thrashes the two heavy Royal Guards with his bare hands. Doc Mercy went to the other side of the tent to get the Red Moon treatment and the human King arrives on the scene. He couldn’t believe what he’s seeing.

                Rance is becoming worse than the monsters they assumed to be the worst. “Skeleton, make. Way.” That was a threatening tone as he unsheathed his rapier. Sans shook his head, “i can’t.” the enraged human just threw the dark blue tank towards the blockade, and some of the bones he made cracked. Rance keeps repeating the words as he pummeled his victim against the bone blockade. They could feel it from the other side, the strong impact that was being hammered into the unconscious human. They all start to plead to Sans to let them pass and stop him, but he couldn’t. He doesn’t want to lose anyone he cared for. He starts to shiver, as he keeps fixing the broken bones. “Papyrus, can’t you do what Sans can..?” Toriel turned her attention to the tall skeleton. “No, I don’t know how to.” The green one tries to hold him back, “Keep the blockade up until we knock him down!” he told the skeleton. Sans nodded in response, at that point Undyne threw one of her spears at a ledge directly at Rance to get his attention. It distracted him when he caught it as it melted into water.

                Frisk wanted to help, but doesn’t want to be stopped by anyone else. Everyone is too focused on either Sans to beg for him to open a free space, or the battle that was happening inside. There’s little enough space for her to be able to squeeze in, but she wanted to stop him. She feels that he only needs a hug, that’s what stopped him when he was beating up the two rogue monsters. Maybe it might work, no it should work. Convincing herself that she could stop Rance from rampaging any further, Frisk is filled with **DETERMINATION**.

                She went in, and then her father noticed. “Frisk, NO! COME BACK!” He rushed towards where she went in and reached for her, but she was too far ahead to be caught. Toriel and Asgore commanded Sans in unison “SANS, OPEN THE DOOR!” but the next sentenced were different, “FRISK IS IN DANGER!” Toriel said, and “WE NEED TO STOP RANCE!” Asgore said. Undyne tries to shake off the bones hard like she was behind bars in jail “Come back here, Frisk!” Alphys and Bianca were begging from their side, “Come back, it’s too dangerous for you!” All those words of concerned ignited something inside her. She became more determined to take action.

                Frisk shook the unconscious guard to wake up. “Mmmmm… What happened… Princess Frisk? What are you doing here! It’s dangerous—hey!” he struggles to stand up, but his bruises were weighing him down along with his heavy armor. Frisk ran towards the two unconscious wolf monsters who are on their beds. She needs to make a decision on who to wake up. The torn robed one, or the burnt robed one. “Vern, Princess Frisk went in here.” The other struggles to walk straight as he approaches the enraged warrior. The three are now occupied, as they try to hold him down. “Princess, get out of here--!” The green one loudly suggest as they struggle to hold him down.

Frisk noticed some sort of swelling on the side of their neck. It was a big red dot, and it seem unnatural for them to have one. She held one of the wolf monster’s arm to know if he was still alive, but instead her hand that touched the monster glowed a light. At the same time, the swelling glows a bright light. It faded shortly after the swelling had sunk, and it looked like the resting monster’s breathing had stabled. She went to the other wolf and tried hugging him from the neck. The same thing had occurred, and he also had a stable breathing. Frisk could tell as two monsters are now resting at east.

                The two are still unconscious, but they seem to have been relieved from their pain. Frisk was given an answer in stopping Rance from rampaging. It was also the same way she was able to save Toriel from her night terrors. Maybe he was having a night terror, she thought. From the other side, “I have no other choice. If he ever lays a finger on her, **I will execute Rance Vor**.” King Farlon suggested. “…P-please…” a faint cry coming from Dianne, and Bianca rushed towards her as the weakened rogue reaches towards the other side. “d..don’t….” she tries to speak but she rolls in pain. She got punched in her lower chest by her own brother, and judging from what Bianca heard when he punched her, it sounded like he broke some of her ribs. Alphys and Bianca tries to help comfort her, but she was in deep pain to even sit up. “Queen Toriel, please! We need your help!” Toriel comes in and held her from below her chest. It made Dianne flinch in pain as she felt something was off. Toriel made her hand glow, but that glow was light red.

                It was a different glow from her previous heals, only because her healing magic isn’t just one whole, but separated into multiple types. Her magic fades, and Dianne starts to cough out blood. “That should fix her broken bones, but after I heal her one more time she needs to be checked by you and the other Doctor.” Dianne felt slightly relieved, “Thank you… Queen Toriel.” She couldn’t move at all, and seemed that her energy was drained. “Fixing fractures and injuries will make the patient feel exhausted. We need you two to get her to a safer place.” Alphys and Bianca nodded as they help carry her outside.

                Sans is starting to lose consciousness, and the bones he erected are starting to break down. “SANS, YOU BONEHEAD. DON’T PUSH YOURSELF!” he tries to pull him away. It might also make the bones he erected disappear, but he’s nailed to the ground. Frisk makes a stand as the two Royal Guards turned their attention to her while they were holding Rance down, who also turned his attention to her. They couldn’t hold on much longer as well, and because they were starting to become exhausted in tolerating his unnatural strength, the enraged warrior found an opening. He slipped passed through the two, and starts to blur away with his feet stomping all over. With each stomp, he left deep foot marks that either ruined the other beds or broke the other chairs and tables. None of them could tell where he was rushing, but it was obvious that he’s going to aim for Frisk. Undyne and Papyrus had no other choice but to pull Sans away, and as he gives in to exhaustion and falls asleep, the bones he made sunk down. Some of the bones that were damaged faded into dust.

                At that moment, the two Kings rushed to save Frisk but Rance got to her first, and before he could grapple her. Frisk anticipated his attack caught him with open arms, hugged him tightly. A bright glow started to emit from Frisk’s hands as well as Rance’s neck. Rance hesitated in confusion as he tries to pull away. The light seems to be sapping his strength. Rance slowly gives in, and the mark on the side of his neck was fading, along with his rage.

” _I CAN’T FORGIVE…. I CAN’T…. I… CAN’T…. FORGIVE…_ ”

Frisk comforting a grown man felt awkward for her. It didn’t take long before the glow had faded from his neck and her hands. It was something everyone couldn’t believe. Especially her father, who just witnessed magic. It was something a young girl should not have. Farlon looked at Asgore in disbelief, and his expression was also the same. Papyrus’ jaw literally dropped, and Undyne couldn’t believe it for herself that it happened again.

After that had happened, the warrior lost consciousness, but before he fully loses it, he whispered something to Frisk’s ear. It was a familiar tone. _“In this world, it’s **Kill…or be killed…** ”_

Asgore immediately separates Frisk from Rance as Farlon hugged her tightly. Everyone in the tent were so worried that it marked as a reminder, that the Red Moon Illness is worse if the person is a skilled fighter. Doc Mercy and Bianca did what they can to treat Dianne and Rance’s condition, as well as Toriel healing the two tank Guards and the wolf monsters. Alphys is checking if Sans will be okay as Undyne and Papyrus, with the other monster guards are keeping an eye on them. The day took too long before the sun finally sets.

                Everyone except for Rance, the Tank Guards, and the Wolf Monsters were gathered in front of the big tent. There is some form of agreement coming from the two kings, and a feast for both humans and monsters is presented. From afar, two small and familiar monsters are watching from the distance.

 

                Just by the trees, Asriel and Monster Kid were sitting on a top branch watching how the two Kings shook hands with one another while monsters celebrate. Other than that, it seems that the soldiers and other humans are slightly warming up to them. But some are talking in groups; they didn’t look pleased. “Dude, shouldn’t we join them?” Monster Kid suggest while he wags his tail. “I can’t. Remember, I’m already dead, and if my parents find out—“ Asriel tries to explain, but was interrupted. It looked like Toriel and Frisk went into the big tent, then few minutes later Frisk was wearing a blue royal dress with a tiara that has some sort of emblem. At that moment after Frisk took a courtly bow, it made Monster Kid laugh out loud,

                It was then, Asriel had to pull his companion away before anyone else would notice them, all while covering his companion’s mouth. They went to another branch that is less visible to anyone, and then they continued watching over them. Asriel picked something out from his pockets. “Berries?” He offered to the other, “Thanks….” Using his tail as a limb, he treated it as a hand and use it to feed himself with it. Asriel slowly putting one berry to his mouth at a time. All while watching Frisk goes to his father and his own parents hug like they were a family. It hurts to see all that while his emotions slowly sinks in. Chara suggests they turn in for the night.

[Sleep] [ **Continue Watching** ]

Chara suggest to Asriel, “If you really want to go see Mom and Dad, just do it… You’re not the only one feeling it.” Asriel wanted to go down there and meet them, his emotions are leading him towards it but he has a mission of his own. To stop the ‘plan’ he made when he was a flower, and Monster Kid doesn’t know that much of his backstory. “Geez dude, getting into a bridge accident is so not cool!” Asriel’s friend commented. At that moment, Monster Kid just recalled something, as he added. “Asri, call me MK”

                “MK, Why MK?” Asriel asks as he looks at his armless friend. Asriel doesn’t get it, but someone else does. And from the inside, she facepalm herself and wipes it down. Within himself he could hear Chara lecture him,” Asriel, seriously? MK means Monster Kid, he wanted you to shorten it out for you!”

                At that moment, he looks away and slaps his hand to his forehead in realization. From the inside, Chara was already rolling her eyes and his companion seem to have figured it out. “Wow, dude. You’re slow—“ MK teased him while pointing his tail on him. He replies back “No, I’m not…!” MK continues to tease him, “That should’ve been obvious, Asri.” At that point, he was so focused in talking back to him that he forgot about his emotional state.

It was already midnight, and a number of soldiers are on-guard while monsters are unloading their supplies, preparing for later. Dianne was still awake, bothered by what happened to her brother. She rose up from her bed and went out to visit the medical tent. As she enters, she saw that the farmers and their family members had set up to stay there and rest. The two Royal Guards were unequipped from their gear as they were resting in bed. The green armored guard seems to be in his late 50’s as his hair had a mix of gray and white color. He is fairly tanned and has some wrinkles but he’s not that frail. He also has a diagonal scar on his right side of the eye, almost deep enough to dig his eye out. Despite that he is around that age, he still maintains good physical body. With all that armor he wore, he needs to maintain.

The dark blue still looks younger than the green tanker. Black hair, clean face and good physique, that could make most women go wow; Dianne isn’t one of them. She looks around and didn’t see her brother, Doc Mercy comes out from the other side of the tent while reading his medical records, flipping one page at a time. Dianne approached him, and it seems that the doctor is too deep in his thoughts that he was spooked when he saw her. “Doc, where’s my brother?” She asks calmly, he flips down the other pages and then puts it on his side. “Follow me.” He said in a serious tone. They went to the other side of the tent and from there, on the center was Rance resting on a metal hospital bed. With both arms and legs chained to it. They changed his attire to a plain white shirt and pants.

A medical equipment was attached to his right arm. He hasn’t woken up yet from what just happened, Doc Mercy told Dianne that because he’s had the least rest ever since he was dispatched, he’d accumulated the Red Moon symptoms. “But I never expected him to go all out like that.” he added, Dianne approached her resting brother and brushed his hair as he lay resting. When she inspected Rance’s neck, the mark that was mentioned had disappeared completely. “Whatever Frisk did seem to have cured him from the symptoms. But we need to be sure, by tomorrow, we all go home and have everything settled.” Dianne was bothered by something. “What did Princess Frisk do…?”

As she got out, she saw Undyne coming out of the medical tent. Soon she rushed towards her and because of her quiet footing, Undyne nearly attacked her. “Oh, it’s you.” She lowered her clenched hands as she proceeded walking. “Undyne, can you tell me what happened a while ago?” as they walk while moonlight shines, she told her what she saw. From when Frisk suddenly rushing towards danger, when she caught him with a hug, to her actions making Rance fall unconscious. “A glow…?” Dianne looked at her in disbelief. Undyne sighs and replied, “Yes, the brat’s hands started glowing after she caught him. It was the same as when she held Toriel the night before.”

“Did you monsters teach her magic or something?” Dianne raised her tone when she asked Undyne. “Ask Queen Toriel, tomorrow. She’s currently resting right now.” Undyne seems to be lacking energy to raise a tone herself as she proceeds to her tent. Dianne goes into her tent and saw that her bed was drenched with water. It’s not much of a surprise since Undyne is part fish. She jumps into her bed with her back facing up, and then looks back at Dianne. “Well, punk? Do you still need to ask me something?” Before she could raise a question, Undyne sinks her face into her wet pillow and loudly mumbled in it, “Ask me tomorrow…” She had a rough day, and immediately fell asleep snoring out loud. Dianne has no other choice but to go back to her tent and prepare for the next day.

 

After the long conversation between two kings, Asgore and Farlon are becoming good friends. Both kings bid good night before going to their tents; Frisk preferred to sleep in a separate tent because she hasn’t fully forgiven her own father and decided to have her own personal space. It was understandable as he lets her get her own. Meanwhile, Asgore enters his own tent to see that Toriel is sleeping on her bed. The tent had two separate beds, and even though they’re separated, the good king was glad that he gets to sleep with her on the same tent. He quietly approached her, and seeing her sleep made her brush her head as he smiled. But after everything had happened, Toriel made it clear before that she will never be with him again. That fact was still nailed into his head as he turns to his bed. He folded his cloak to the table and puts his crown on top of it. He kneeled before his bed and prayed to see that his kind will be spared, and have both humans and monsters co-exist peacefully in the future, before he becomes too old and die.

Asgore then stood up and lays down on his bed to rest. Slowly the darkness had lulled him to sleep, and then he heard a familiar voice. It was a young voice, calling out somewhere. He sits up from his bed when that voice was familiar. At first, it sounded like a girl. Until the voice grew louder, and it sounded like someone he knew. “Da...Dad…!” it was coming from outside, he ran out and saw that everyone seems to be in their tents. He looks around when the voice keeps calling for him. He followed the voice, up until he’s out of the camp. The voice sounded closer to him, but the more he runs off to the forest, and with his hearing he could tell which way the voice was. He kept on running unto bushes and twigs as he blindly followed the voice, until he reached the corners of Mt. Ebott. A child can be heard calling for him, saying “Dad…. Dad!” When he saw the person who was calling for him, he was shocked. It really was someone who is familiar to him – it was Asriel sitting on the corner. With wounds and stabs on his back, he was crying on the dark corner. “Dad… Are you there?” He keeps proceeding to the corner, looking for his father.

Judging from his movements, it looked like he was blinded as he struggles to go cry and look for his father. Asgore ran up to him immediately as the moments with his son flashed before his very eyes, the more he could hear him cry the more he regretted taking away 6 human souls for his own selfish reasons. He lifted his son and hugged him tightly “Asriel, my son!” they were both crying. Asgore was having tears of joy, but as for Asriel… “Why…? Why did you let me… why’d you let me die?” that question suddenly raised a chill around his fur as he looks at his son. Asriel covered his face while he cries, and then slowly it turns into menacing laughter. His voice was becoming more disoriented with his original, and slowly it sounded more different that he dropped him out of fear as he steps back. The thing is, why did he drop him? The wounds slowly grew something green as he states something. “ _You wanna know why? Because…_ ” he removed his hands from his face and showed his pitch black eyes with his teeth sharper than usual. “ _You’re….such…an… **IDIOT** …_”

Thorny vines came out of him as his form explodes into a giant plant monster. The vines attached itself at the corners that raised him up, showing his gross and unimaginable form, as he transforms his giant mouth blasted a pure beam to the ground that made everything shook wild, causing an earthquake. It maniacally laughed as he raised itself exposing its true form. Asgore, before him was **OMEGA FLOWEY** himself. He readied his red trident as he was going to engage battle. But what happened wasn’t something he’d expect. His television head statics a facial expression that was indescribable to him as he bows with his right large arm raising to his mouth “ _O HAIL KING ASGORE DREEMURR – THE BUTCHER--!_ ” a bright light flashed before him, making him raised a hand to cover his eyes. As he looks again, the giant monster disappeared as something spoke from the ground. “ _Of the lands.. of men._ ” A golden flower with a face spoke to him as he giggles at him. Asgore knew very well not to underestimate an opponent that can shift forms. He was misled by a shapeshifter as he threw his trident at it; he was serious about killing the flower monster.

It spurts out from behind, it went underground just before the weapon got to him. It gasped as it asked, “ _Golly, why the long face, your Majesty?_ ” the way it said it was trying to provoke Asgore as it continued making taunting facial expressions and figurative leaf movements “ _Did you think that when you reached the surface, that the sun will melt away your sins?_ ” it continues with an angry expression “ ** _Old fool!_** ” it shifts back into a taunting expression. “ _You and I know both know there’s no escaping what **you did~** Or better still…What you were going to do! You remember, don’t you?_ ” Asgore lowers his guard as he walked towards his trident that is impaled to the ground, picking it up he didn’t realize that this flower knows a lot of things, all while storm clouds gather. The things he did. It made him look at his trident as the flower continues. “ _All those years brooding on the darkest corners of your **BIG. EMPTY. CASTLE.** Waiting for fate to realize your vengeance…_ ” it emphasized all while changing its expression again to a more menacing face “ _The complete **EXTERMINATION** of the human race._ ” Thunder strikes from afar while it started raining. All while Asgore remembered his speech when he wanted revenge.

It echoed in his head, ‘For all humans who fall to the underground, we take their SOUL and we will strike back at them! We will reign over the surface and kill **EVERY HUMAN THAT STANDS IN OUR WAY!** ” his people cheers on while Toriel was behind the curtain, worried of his becoming. Back to reality, Flowey was laughing at him for making such a demand that he turns around towards the flower with a glare. “ _Oh what? Don’t tell me you’ve ALREADY forgotten?! Those six souls that came before your little ambassador?_ ” Asgore could hear them laughing with joy from afar, Flowey continued to torment him “ _In case you haven’t noticed. **they’re still MISSING~!**_ ” at that moment, the whole area suddenly grew quiet after what he just said in the most playful tone. Asgore was becoming more convinced that the flower knew too much that he tried to kill it. But again, it sinks back into the ground and sprouts out from a stone. “ _And it won’t be long before their families start asking questions._ ” It changed its expression again to a more vengeful and demeaning look towards Asgore along with a deep voice. “ ** _ODD QUESTIONS._** ” It changed back to a playful expression and tone, “ _Questions you don’t know how or.. if you’ll be able to answer._ ”

It then pointed towards him as he starts to laugh as he talk. “ _I mean, haha. Just look at yourself! Folks up here are already enough of you – without common knowledge of the mass **PEDOCIDE** in the underground._” What it spoke was true, when they had arrived back at the camp after the rogue monster incident the soldiers were looking grim at him. And after what happened at the medical tent, when one human went monster berserk, the farmers that were saved were making faces. Showing concern or were too cautious to show any sudden movements. The young girl told her mother that the monsters are kind, but her mother took her hand and immediately walked away from him. In his mind, he could hear their screams as he and the others had killed them. “ _Isn’t that just like them, though? Isn’t that just…. Human nature…?_” Asgore absorbs what it was telling him. Those are all facts, and he couldn’t even talk back. It was too much of a spoonful for him, that it continued with shifting facial expression. “ ** _THAT PRIMAL FEAR – THAT BITTER HATRED – that…. Determination_** _._ ” It reverted back to a playful expression and tone,” To _seek out! And destroy what they do not understand! Oh but I don’t need to explain that to you. Now, do I?_”

Asgore couldn’t stand it anymore that he jumped up high and decided to try and step on the talking flower. Instead it went back to the bottom ground where it first appeared, Asgore then jumps down to make another attempt to stomp the flower. And then it hid itself somewhere, maybe beneath the rocks but it continues to torment as the good king pants as the rain seem to make it harder for him to catch a breath. “ _No siree! I think the **dust** in your throne room speaks volumes for itself!_ ” he could imagine Asriel struggling to walk back to his home, and then he falls to the floor. He couldn’t muster any strength to move as he melts into dust along with Chara’s soul breaking in two. “ _Is it any wonder why Queen… abandoned you? Why she can’t **stand the thought of it**?_ ” It literally hit a soft spot on Asgore as his flames burst out in the open. Fire burst from his mouth and clenched fists like flamethrowers on maximum power. Causing nearby trees to set ablaze with his anger, anger that was caused by a small flower, that stated what it knew to trigger him into a denial. He then calmed down when he remembered something he never saw. A voice of her telling something, “I have seen it, again and again.” That tired and aching tone coming from Toriel made him stop. The flames still continued to burn down everything, all while the rain drizzled heavy raindrops, yet it cannot seem to stop the forest fire.

Asgore fell on his knees with his hands on the puddle, dropping his trident in front of him in defeat. All while the Flower sprouted in front of him, as it continues to torment him with a giggle. “ _Of course, you realize. This means, the war is far… from over._” He raised his head in question, his eyes show confusion and despair when he mentioned it. “ _You understand THAT much, at least. That plan of yours?_” He remembered the plan he had before. He needs 7 souls in order for him to become a God himself, but he already abandoned it after the barrier broke and Frisk was able to help free everyone. Flowey then looks at Asgore in the eyes as it added, “ _It’s still in motion. And it will, eventually come to fruition – with… or without you._ ”

Asgore shook his head a little, while he moves back, falling and laying on the ground. Fear gripped him into paralysis. Does it mean that this flower is implying that it took the souls for itself and has already took one? Flowey seem to play with its leaf as it looks at it. It even looks like it’s looking its own finger nails, and then turned his attention towards Asgore. “ _And when that day comes…_ ” Asgore is still shaking his head sidewards in denial, as if he could hear an angry mob and a following panic of people. It seems that the forest fire had already reached the human camp, where even his kind are residing. That includes everyone he knows, even the human king he sought out to become friends with, along with his daughter, Frisk. Flowey continues to press on with a deepend tone of voice, “ _The day, when someone, SOMEWHERE, crosses the line between diplomacy…_ ” its facial expression shifted again to a terrifying face. “ ** _and bloodshed…_** ” it shifted back again as sirens had followed.

“ _You’ll wish…deep down in your **BLACKENED BLOODSTAINED HEART!**_ ” at that moment, everything seemed to have stopped for a moment, the people crying from afar, the fire, even the rain had stopped for a moment. “ _That you, had never lived, to see the sun, again **.** After all, it is the flame, that will ignite the fuse…_ ” Asgore was struck deep with fear, he couldn’t move because in his thought, he was drowning in despair. Flowey then shifted, but this time… Flowey picked up his fallen trident, and stands in Asgore’s appearance, before the fallen king Asgore. Flowey then spoke in his voice, with a mix of his own menacing tone. “ ** _OF YOUR GENOCIDE._** ” It took his appearance, with eyes red, sharper than ever. His white and yellow fur had darkened, mixed with Flowey’s evil and twisted smile. It laughed maniacally, all while the ground had cracked open, where the real Asgore lays down he fell down into the underground’s lava. All, while the fake Asgore looks at him sink into the lava. It then proceeds to laugh more maniacal as he reaches up high. He slowly sunk into the lava, feeling the flames and his past actions engulf him full. All while at that very second, all of his wrongdoings flashed before his eyes.

Asgore immediately sits up from his bed, awoken by the nightmare that visited him. It felt so real, he looked around and towards his wife, who was still sleeping in peace. He tries to catch a breath, as he tries to absorb that it was all just a bad dream. Then he realized something… It felt so real that he thought everyone had died. The night was quiet, and all he could hear was himself hearing what that flower had mentioned. In response, he covered his eyes with his right hand at first. “Forgive me…” He covered them with both hands, crying in realization of what he did in the past was all wrong, until a memory of Asriel and Chara flashed before him, smiling as they walk away, holding hands. Both fading to dust.

“for….Forgive me….”

To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Ro-kun here with an update for you guys! Apparently, I'm going to stop for a moment for the main story and continue on the extra, so that I could fill in some holes and put them on the extra, as it would answer some... "Questions". But if you like me to just put them on the main instead of making a separate writing, just holler.
> 
> Also, Asgore's nightmare was based off of CyberneticPinkEye's voice acting in tormenting the good King. https://soundcloud.com/user-162900906/a-dream-for-dreemurr-ft-lumisau
> 
> The whole story was made because his voice acting of Flowey tormenting the other Undertale characters inspired me to make me write this kind of extension. It also made me think so far that I've already had the whole story plotted in my head. Thank you, CyberneticPinkEye for allowing me to put your voiceover work into the story, for supporting the idea as well as giving me **DETERMINATION** to write this story.


	11. The Declaration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here to update the next chapter-- huh? No chapter summary? No problem.

                It was afternoon, and the events that occurred before lunch felt like time had slowed down, especially when one good person goes berserk. The two kings now only have one representative each, and it was Dianne and Sans. Asgore still sits on the same position while Sans was asked to sit next to him, where an arrow points toward them with a single letter “S”. Farlon and Dianne are sitting on the other side of the round table, with a letter “N” in between them. It wasn’t as much pressured as it was a while ago, so they both had shared their given thoughts without feeling the threat of the other party. As for their discussion this time is rather loose.

                “King Asgore, are you certain that the Red Moon did not originate from your people?” The other king had asked in suspicion. “No. And never did a disease had reached the underground until the barrier had been broken.” He replied in concern. The other two are observing carefully: Sans tries to relax by attempting to put his feet on the table while he tries to nap, but Dianne wouldn’t let him do as he please. She looked as if she’s reading their movements carefully, and he can’t seem to figure what she’s thinking, other than being the constant surveillance of the King. Sans only found out that she’s an Intelligence Agent after his King mentioned it, before they sat on their chairs. “heya. mind if i ask about the vor siblings?” Sans wanted to change the topic. “Oh, and why is that?” Dianne curiously asked.

                “it might have a connection about this problem. and to be specific, the issue happened after they arrived at the underground.” His reasoning was as sharp as a knife. “… If the King permits.” Dianne crossed her arms, and legs from under the table. “Very well.” King Farlon made an exception. “dianne vor, was it?” he put his hands together just on the level of his granny smile while his elbows on the table. “has your brother had proper rest when he was dispatched?”

                “No.” Sans proceeds with the next question. “was he in contact with any other people who had the symptoms?” Dianne can tell where this is going. But sadly, she shook her head. “that’s odd, coming from an intel agent.” He pressed on, while the two kings are listening carefully. They are both patient with the QA from both the skeleton and the girl. “You seem to know something I don’t. Care to share it with the rest of us?” Dianne asked curiously, and it bothered Sans. There’s that sensation he couldn’t explain, but her confidence in asking him that is what bothered him. In response to that, he went straight to the point.

                “your brother didn’t sleep last night.” He admitted while crossing his arms just below his chest. “there was something bothering him, that he didn’t went to bed like most of us. and i happen to hear the ruckus from the other side of the room.” The incident when Toriel was having a night terror. Dianne frowned, “aw, turn the frown upside down.” Sans teased her; he knew about the conversation which made her try to remember when they were talking on the phone.

_‘Brother, is Frisk safe? … Where are you currently sleeping right now? …….. why what happened? Are you sure the princess is in safe hands? …. Hello~ Is there something wrong? ….. King Farlon?! Hey! Wha--‘_

                “hmmm. So you were there listening, while we were talking on the phone.” Dianne focused her attention to the skeleton. She’s right, when Rance was talking to her, he paused for a moment. She could imagine him changing his attention to someone else, and with Sans telling them that, there wouldn’t be any other monster or people who could make him pause for that moment. Sans nodded in reply, while he continues to grin at her. “What’s your game, human? You and that **Meat Puppet**.”

                Asgore can tell that Sans wanted some answers, as well as he tries to deface her in front of them. He wants to intervene, but knowing Sans, he won’t stop until he gets what he wants. Farlon was losing patience that he thinks the two are straying from the first topic, but couldn’t help but let them because the skeleton is giving his king an impression and reason not to trust them. At that moment, he covered his mouth and coughed really hard. Dianne comforts her king by rubbing his back, while Sans wait for her response. “We wanted to find Frisk, and to escort her back home with her father.” She looked at him, and it seems that Sans wasn’t fully convinced yet as his left eye socket gave a hostile blue glow. Sans wanted the full story, and Dianne had no choice but to give more details.

                “We wanted Frisk to go home, with or without you. That much we’ll admit. But because she is well-attached to her friends, we can’t just pry her away from you. She cares for you and everyone else in the underground, and even decided to become your Ambassador; that much I understand, coming from our encounter, as well as my brother’s output. The King, her father is in desperate need to make up for his mistakes before his condition worsens, and regret being too strict to his 10-year-old daughter.” King Farlon looked at her, surprised that she knew about his condition. “Rance… told you..?” he was slowly trying to regain his breath momentum. “Your Highness… My brother begged in front of your daughter to come home in front of them, not because of his situation, but because he cares for your sake. We care for both your sake!” she empathized. Sans was getting results, and her words were as true as what they mentioned back in the underground. Rance went to his knees and head down on the floor. He begged for her to reconsider. “But….your brother.. hates begging…” King Farlon slowly straightening himself to sit properly, while trying to regulate his breathing while wiping away blood from his mouth.

                “kid isn’t lying, alright. they consider you, the current king of the humans to be the fairest royal family household.” He closed his eye sockets to make an impression. Asgore couldn’t believe that the King of humans was ill this whole time. When both of them fought the rogue monster, he looked healthy. If he wasn’t really ill, then he must have more potential in fighting. “I’m sorry to intervene, but is that all you need to ask, Sans?” the skeleton was going to raise a finger bone, but Asgore proceeded. “Very well, then. How about you, young Dianne. Do you have any question for us?” that was rather rude for him to do that. But then again, it was also rude for Sans to make a personal question. Asgore can tell that his impression towards the other humans is not very light, as well as they could tell that he must have some kind of grudge. King Farlon took a handkerchief and covered his mouth, while Dianne clapped twice to signal the soldiers outside to get the king some refreshments for everyone.

                “Would you mind if I ask a personal question, as well?” she looked at the two monsters. Farlon could tell that she will make it more personal, but he trusts her to get some results. He never saw her make any form of interrogation, but in the end results she get the answers she wanted. Most of the people she questions are either terrified of coming out of the interrogation room, or worse that they never leave their homes again. “I happen to recover ‘white fur’ from the Cliffside just next to where my brother and his team had crossed, after the fight between them and the wolf monsters. Do you happen to know whose fur is it?” Sans opened his eye sockets wide. She just asked them that, as if they were ambushed and stabbed at the back, metaphorically. She found something that Sans didn’t expect to know. If he mentioned that those were Asriel’s fur, then all is lost. In response to her question, he took off his jacket and fanned it towards them.

                Out of nowhere, a small white dog came out of Sans’ jacket and barked twice. “there’s your answer.” It then slept in the middle of the table; and with the little magic trick Sans made had convinced the two that it was this dog that had left fur. But that didn’t really stop Dianne’s suspicion. Her eyes glittered when she saw the white dog sleeping on the table, and with her cheery side, she asked. “Awww, so this is the dog that was on the Cliffside? Then does it mean that this dog can use fire magic?” Sans was starting to sweat at that moment. He’s in a pickle that she knew more than just the fur. Where she stood, saw a number of burn marks on the lower ground. She tried to imitate what happened, and imagined how it proceeded. Dianne is three steps ahead of Sans, that she also had one more question.

                “Maybe Toriel was there with the white dog.” Asgore assumed, and Farlon seems to agree. “So, in your logic, Mr. Asgore. Toriel was at the Cliffside first and fired rounds before the events of the fight occurred?” She was blunt there. Farlon is starting to understand why no one ever defied her when it comes to interrogation. She’s terrifying when she’s making progress. Sans is getting irritated with her playful side. “can you—“ Dianne interrupted him while the skeleton is losing patience. “get to the point? I happen to encounter an armless monster that barged into my tent, this morning. And his footprints are also similar to those that were on the Cliffside, recently. Could the King had a child that seems to roam the area, with a companion?” With that, Sans couldn’t make something up. She had a lot of evidence to cover her questions. All she need now are answers. “I doubt that your footprints matched with the other monster I am referring to… And as for the Gaster Blasters…. I don’t think those are capable of making faint burnt traces.”

                Sans knew very well that Asriel is alive and well, as well as Chara. He knew that he was trying to keep a low profile, but was rather careless of him to leave some of his fur at the Cliffside. To make matters worse, he had a companion with him that matches with Dianne’s given details. The fire magic could be explained with a possibility that he used his Gaster Blaster to fire small burst rounds. The white fur could’ve been explained with the white dog with him when he made a scene, but he never encountered the armless monster, Monster Kid. It would’ve worked well if he could reason with the given evidences one-by-one, but she pinned him down with all three.

                He had very little options of reason, and he couldn’t say a word. If Sans screws up, then the possible peace treaty for both humans and monsters would be single day history. “What if the monsters had intervene are more rogue monsters?” King Asgore had given his possible side. He thought that Sans couldn’t answer because it might lead to a disaster. He recognizes Dianne’s talent in making an interrogation, but there’s a flaw in her airtight interrogation. “There is possibility that another couple of rogue monsters had appeared to stop the fight. There are only few monsters with white fur, as well as making a barrage of fire. But that doesn’t necessarily limit to me and Toriel. I did have a son, once. But had died early; I would believe that his ghost may have intervene, but that wouldn’t the most rational answer.“

                Asgore was explaining his side as smooth as possible. “There is a possibility that a new breed of monster with white fur had surfaced, that we don’t know of. And may have been acquainted with the monster you had encountered ‘entering’ your tent.” Dianne can tell the sincerity of the good King, and as for her King he is convinced. “I apologize for my representative that he made a rude and personal question, but returning it with another will not solve the difference between the both of us.”

                “I…am sorry that I did that. If another monster would’ve landed at them, then we would’ve lost not just our comrades, but also my brother and the civilians.” She sincerely apologized. “Sans might know more than that, and so I asked.” King Farlon patted her shoulders and nodded. The soldier had arrived with four glasses of refreshments: Lemon Ice Tea. The four had drink theirs and felt less tense; King Farlon had regained some of his composure close to normal. But King Asgore is still concerned for his condition.

                The soldier had approached the two humans and whispered something. The king nodded and the soldier had saluted, before leaving the tent. “Our soldier had mentioned that the rogues had awoken from their sleep. Dianne, will you lead the questioning?” they all stood up from their chairs, while Dianne had nodded to her king. They proceeded outside the tent, and King Asgore himself had plans to question them, as well.

 

* * *

 

                Outside, Sans just noticed something about the tents in the camp. If there’s going to be an attack, then it would’ve been an easy ambush against the humans, but that doesn’t seem to bother them. “The tent may look like it’s easy to escape with but specifically, all tents have reinforced steel as clothing. There’s also another substance that makes it difficult to claw your way in or out of the tent’s clothing features, but the manufacturer had never revealed their secret about it. That is how tents are durable. They can be heavy, and not easy to cut through. It was also demo’d by the company that firing heavy rounds wouldn’t entirely pierce through. And burning it wouldn’t do much as well. But even so, it is made with complex features that our scientists couldn’t study how they are really made.” King Farlon explained. If these tents are heavy, then how were they able to bring it in the middle of the forest?

                They proceeded to walk to the north-east side of the camp, and as they noticed Humans and Monsters seem get along, but there are still those who doubt. Some didn’t bother to talk at all, while some are keeping an eye out for intruders. Undyne and a soldier seem to be practicing how to fight well with a spear; with Undyne as the teacher, she showed some of her moves. If there were combustive equipment around she could make a commotion with it. But her guards made sure that the area is clear. The monster Royal Guards had some bandages wrapped around them as they talk in groups; they seem to be discussing about what to improve on their next encounter. They even had some of the riflemen soldiers to be with them as they discuss. From Sans’ view, they’re arguing about something they misstep, while one rifleman suggested to have a consecutive combination instead of an all-out attack. They’re making progress.

                Toriel and Doc Mercy seem to have exited a tent, and the two Kings had approached them. “Are the two okay for interrogation now?” King Farlon asked, and the Doctor nods, while Toriel intervened. “Please do not be too hard on them. They seem to have regained their normal senses.” They walked away, with Toriel not looking back at Asgore or Sans. “tori’s tired, king fluff.” Sans suggested. That must be the case, since she had been healing everyone who was wounded since this morning. They entered with two wolf monsters having bandages on their heads, body and shoulder, while a wrapping was on the other’s arm. Rance must’ve been very brutal with the two, and Sans saw how it went; the sound of bones crushing and the impact was too much. They were resting in their separate beds with a shackle on their leg. The shackles on their legs is just one chain, with the chain twisted around the lower left and lower right of the metal bed’s foot. It may not be durable but the metal clangs that might sound like a struggle would be enough to alert everyone. Not to mention, since it is pretzel to the bed’s foot it would make it hard for them to move.

                “Have the two of you recover?” King Asgore first approached the two. “… K-king….?” The one tried to talk, but his left jaw seem to be aching. “hrmmmm….” The left wolf monster nodded since he can’t speak. This one bit his tongue while he was engaged in a combat with the two Kings. “He said that he’s in pain, but he’ll be alright.” The right one had spoken as he looked towards them. The wolf noticed that he’s with the humans. “…Was the barrier released….?” He rested his head to the pillow while looking up. The hope of monsters being freed from the underground was slowly overwhelming him, while his injured friend tried to tell him not to get too emotional. “I know that, dumbass!” he turned his attention to his injured friend, then he covered his eyes with his right arm later.

                Dianne approached the two wolf monsters before Asgore could have raised a question. “I like to—hey, Dianne!” she ignored the concern as she went in the middle. The two had slightly heard her footsteps and looked towards her. She went too close for them to see her up close and personal. They were waiting for her to talk, while Sans stopped the two Kings from approaching her. “she must know what she’s doing.” Sans couldn’t brush off the feeling of not being able to predict her, or the two wolf monsters. As the two looked at her, she told them to get off their beds. They don’t know why she wanted them to do that, but their lives are at her mercy. They went in front of her and sat on the ground when she pointed down. Fortunately, the shackle chains were long enough for them to be able to sit there. Her aura was overwhelming that made Farlon feel uncomfortable.

She raised her right hand and asked them, “How many fingers am I holding up?” with three fingers raised, but with her thumb raised instead of her wedding ring finger, the right wolf said “3” while the left one struggled to say “8”. The right wolf argued, “What do you mean 8?!” the left wolf protests while no one could understand his gibberish. In Farlon’s assumption, the mumbling wolf said ‘it’s a trick question, dumbass!’ somehow they suddenly realized something as their eyes widen. Dianne smiled at them while she tries to hold her tears back. She jumped towards them, and the three who were watching from the back were not expecting that. As she landed on them, they hugged her as she playfully called them “puppies~” Sans couldn’t mutter a word as he struggled to process the thought. “Dianne, you… know them?!” King Farlon couldn’t believe what he’s seeing. The two wolf monsters were smiling in content as their tail waggle with joy, all while Dianne snuggle the two while she rubs their fur. It was like a strange reunion of two dogs and their, but what the heck?!

“Dianne, when, where and how did you meet these two?!” Farlon raised his question with authority. She stops hugging as she faced her king. “Since I was 5. Did you forget what I mentioned?” King Asgore and Sans looked at one another with probable question marks just above their heads as they looked back at her. “When I was 5 and I was a witness to the village’s attempts to kill both me and my brother?” that made King Farlon think back as he tried to recall. Then at that moment, he just realized something.

“These two are the ‘puppies’ you mentioned at the court?” King Farlon couldn’t believe it. “What happened back then?” King Asgore was wondering, and Sans was giving a careless jest with a curious grin. “When I was 5 and my brother was 8, our parents were asked by some mayor to move to their village. It was a happy life back then but in secret, the villagers wanted to put three children in a ritual. In other words, a sacrifice.” The right wolf monster continued then, “We were watching the humans’ activity back then when we noticed them sacrificing previous 3 children to Mt. Ebott to die. The next three sacrifices were being held years ago. Ever since then, we two had been keeping the young ones entertained, until they decided to proceed with brute force.” The other wolf monster proceeded. “She kept calling us puppies, even though we explained to her that we are Lycans.”

“so, in other words. you made a scene to scare off her parents away from their home?” Sans put up a blunt assumption. “That is correct.” Dianne agreed. “At that time, we were pestering outside their house before the villagers could proceed with their damned plans. Her brother fainted when I faked my snarl, then her parents started packing their stuffs while we kept them entertained.” The wolf explained, “My brother doesn’t remember you, two. Maybe you should pay him a visit, later—“

“I cannot allow that, Young Dianne.” King Farlon protested, “Not until you explain why you didn’t warn us beforehand that these two are acquaintance of yours. Not after what happened a while ago!” the attack at the farm site was almost forgotten. “I didn’t recognize them at all that time… they were…” She tries to put what she could describe in words, but couldn’t think of how to say it without offending them. “We….attacked….?” the two wolf monsters asked. They looked confused; they didn’t realize what they did back there. “Yes, you two attacked a farm aggressively. You even put up a fight.” King Asgore intervened. They looked down and apologized, “But we don’t remember attacking anyone.”

“You don’t remember? Asgore asked, then King Farlon followed “or you won’t remember?” the two Kings weren’t too pleased with just that. But the two wolf monsters couldn’t help it. “Maybe… That explained why…” Dianne was thinking this whole time, “You two were giving a different vibe, that I didn’t recognize the two of you right away.” She recalled when she pulled his arm to prevent the next attack from happening. She almost recognized them while they were engaged in combat, but she felt that something wasn’t right. She turned her attention to someone else and asked him, “How about you, Sans?” he suddenly looked at her. “You were there when they fought against Rance and the others.” It would’ve been common sense that for Frisk to appear out of nowhere at a short time; Sans’ ability to warp from one place to another is a convenience for them to get to a forest route towards the camp. “heh, the kid made a guess to have us teleported there.” He shook it off as if it’s not really his idea to go there.

“to answer your question, yes. there was a vibe of both wrath and confusion.” He peered through the two wolf monster’s eyes and turned his attention to her again. “now, it looks like they’re chillin’.” The only way for them go berserk like that is that they caught it, too. “You guys caught the Red Moon as well?” she asked them. At first, they got confused as to what they were saying. And then, Asgore approached them, “What was the last thing you two remembered?” King Farlon was going to ask that, but Asgore was first. “… The last thing we remember was….” The left wolf monster pouted, “the…last thing we remember….”

“ **was a little talking flower.** ” The thought shook both Asgore and Sans, as if they just remembered something, but they don’t really know. Sans then thought that, maybe someone does know. He pondered and thought things through. ‘Why is the King and Queen’s deceased son had come back to life? Is there a connection between this event and his return? Or is it…?’ he then realized something. ‘The monsters and that human are having the effects right when Asriel had appeared. Is he causing all this?’ At that moment, Dianne tapped his skull to snap him back to reality. “Well?” she was right in front of him; to be specific her face is close to his. She was staring at him, eye to eye socket.

“well what?” Sans asked without asking for a personal space. It seems that they were talking about something, but because he was thinking deeply, he didn’t hear them. Dianne stood away and sighed, “are you sure that you are not deceived by the echo flowers?” Sans suggested, but Asgore doesn’t agree with Sans about that. “Echo flowers only grow at the waterfalls. The glowing plants and monsters who reside there nurture the echo flowers, as well as the mystical effect of the waters.” He explained. “it was a talking flower monster, with yellow petals that convinced us that the underground monsters had perished.” The right wolf monster had added. He gave the specifics, which made things more complicated.

“That reminds me. How did you get out of the Underground?” King Farlon asked. If the monsters had no way of getting out of the Underground due the barrier, then how did they bypass the barrier? “We were warped out of the Underground.” That answer just made everyone focused on Sans. “But that is not the skeleton that warped us.” This was getting out of hand, for everyone. “The skeleton that warped some of us out of the Underground, was none other than W.D. Gaster.” The first Royal Scientist of the Underground, serving under King Asgore’s command. “How did he—“

“Gaster was acting strange. He went out of control and started making everyone disappear. Everyone who tried to stop him ended up disappearing, until we realized that we were warped outside the Underground.” Asgore couldn’t believe it, that his former Royal Scientist had that power. Now, the Red Moon suspicion is moved back to the monsters, because ‘Gaster went out of control.’ There are so many things that just came up, for both sides. It was confusing. Sans could tell the mixed thoughts flowing in the air, and decided to step up.

“to summarize things: the former royal scientist had warped the monsters out of the underground. but without knowing how they are exposed to this red moon illness you humans speak of, we cannot conclude that it really was from the monsters. the two wolf monsters over there were still sane when they saved the vor family from becoming sacrifices to this human cult village’s plans, and then finally a flower made an appearance and got both of you under its whim. in other words, this talking flower had been the cause of this illness. in what i understood so far.” Dianne couldn’t help but agree to his logic.

“And if this flower monster had made an appearance again, then we should terminate it before any more humans or monsters will get the influence of the Red Moon.” King Farlon also agreed with the skeleton’s consultation. “But two things seem to have bothered me… What happened to the former scientist after the event, and to the children who were dropped at the hole of Mt. Ebott?” Asgore knew what happened to the children, but he couldn’t just tell them that he took their souls for his conquest of winning the next war. “The former royal scientist’s whereabouts are still unknown. As for the children… Their corpses had piled up one day. So we gave them a proper burial.” That last part was a thoughtful ‘lie’, and Dianne can tell, and Sans can tell that Dianne was doubting that part.

“I forgot to ask. What are your names?” King Farlon asked the two wolf monsters. The left wolf monster struggled to talk, “K-krauser.” The right wolf monster answered. “Führi.” Their discussion had led to many answers they didn’t expect to find; for both sides it was more than enough to recognize that none of them had caused the Red moon. “Now then, let us proceed to the last topic. Shall we go back to the tent?” King Farlon suggested. This might be it, the verdict for monsters if they are allowed to build their city. “Very well.” King Asgore agrees as they all exit, but before Dianne could come out of the tent. Führi beckoned to her, and as she approached him, he made one request.

 

They all have seated on the table, and it was time for them to cast their conclusion. Toriel and Undyne were invited to join them, while Papyrus, Alphys and Bianca were randomly seated between the marks “E” and W”. Frisk also joins in for her to hear what her father has to say. The outer ring are the soldiers and the other monsters, as they will all serve as witnesses. The big tent is currently full, while some stayed outside. The King of humans had stood up from his seat and started his speech. One camera was set to be viewed live for other people to see.

“We have observed one another, interacted with one another, and shared common ideas. We all struggled to see whether one of us is really the bad person, or monster. However, upon our interactions, we have witnessed that they are no different from any one of us. We all struggle for a happy ending…” King Farlon looked at Frisk, as she looked back. “My daughter, who ran away from home had taught me a valuable lesson. It is something that everyone had overlooked. We all want to live peacefully, where no one has to suffer. No one has to struggle; and all wars and conflicts should not exist. That ideal will not do anyone good.” he faced everyone, as he continued. “But instead of dividing ourselves according to race, gender, color or beliefs. Let us unite and work together, and build this country for the sake of everyone’s Hopes and Dreams!”

The viewer ratings had increased from 17% to 81% for both humans and monster channels. It is increasing steadily, as it sparks both questionable comments or acceptance from the viewers. “From this point on, I declare that humans and monsters can live together!” Everyone was listening to King Farlon’s speech. He invited the King and Queen of monsters to join him in the livestream, for everyone to see who King Asgore and Queen Toriel. And when they appeared on the Television, it sparked more questionable comments. Both of them did not look terrifying at all, and instead they looked like cute goat monster couples who happen to rule the Underground. Now, it caused people to assume that not all monsters may be as terrifying as the history books suggest. Then again, on the online media people now question the history of “The War between Humans and Monsters” and how the conflict actually occurred. Frisk joins the three, as Toriel treated her as if Frisk was her daughter.

This very day, a lot of things had happened. It started as a neutral alliance between two sides. But as conflict and resolve develop between the two, the two Kings had understood one another. The human soldiers now treat the monster laborers as pals, and it was the happy ending everyone assumes… But there are still knots tied.

 

* * *

 

It was night, and there was a full moon. The two wolf monsters rested in peace, and they don’t have enough energy to stand and howl, especially with Klauser’s condition. Führi ever wondered if what he told Dianne would make a difference. It bothered him that monsters are now accepted to the human society, as their King had allowed them to build their own homes in the surface. Something just didn’t feel right, “bah! I’ll think about it, tomorrow.” He went to the other side of the bed to face his injured companion. And then, he thought about what that flower had said. “ _Everything is in place._ ” His eyelids became heavier, and then he finally falls asleep.

Asriel and MK are resting somewhere almost near the campsite, until blue bones flew towards them. Chara sensed danger, took over Asriel’s body and used her reflexes to dodge them with a somersault and a slide dash, all while snatching away his sleeping companion. A short skeleton steps in, while the moon was behind him. In between the moon, are two Gaster Blasters. Chara can tell that Sans is serious, and same for him to her. “Let’s talk, Flowey.” Both his eye sockets had glow bright and menacing blue. It’s not like they had a choice; “Sure… **Trashbag**.” They replied, while MK was starting to wake up, the tension between the two rose. Chara doesn’t have a knife, and as Asriel woke up entirely he snapped his fingers in defense. Sans also snapped his fingers. "woah." A thought of a certain magic had popped up in his mind, and with Chara's support it was cast.

All around them are floating violet bones, and white glowing spheres of fire. There too many to count, and if both of them start a fight it could create a forest fire, and a commotion. Sans can warp somewhere to dodge, but Asriel took a lot of precautions and ensured that the whole area had white fireballs. Not to mention, the aura of each fire resonates with a form of interference, as it messes up Sans’ calculative abilities to warp to a safe spot. How could have he learned such a composite magic? On Asriel’s end, all the bones around them are violet. If he gets hit by them, then his movements will become very heavy until his own weight multiplies, and it kills him. It was something Sans had learned after his speculation of Frisk and Muffet fighting the other day. MK couldn’t do anything, and this is the first time he saw Asriel this serious. One wrong move, and it all goes to hell. Sans is motivated by his Confidence, while Chara’s determination mixes with Asriel’s shared Determination of Frisk. It’s a draw, and Asriel doesn’t want to cause any more violence. He is naïve to think that there’s going to be a real fight. "look kid, i had a skele-ton of work that was handed to me a while ago, thanks to your careless actions. and to be specific, i want answers coming from a **formerly deceased** monster."

He wasn't fully convinced, as his thoughts were all over the place. The bones are putting up a show, as well as his unintentional magic trick. Sans couldn't think straight with all the fire around him, nor could he make a proper pun. ' _Calm down, Asriel. Smiley here just wants to talk._ ' she told him. Her hostility decreased, and It took a while for them to make a move… In the end, they both lowered their hands and guard, and had a midnight conversation with their floating projectiles disappearing at an almost instant.

 

* * *

 

                Dianne went somewhere on her own. She left the camp and jumped from one tree up to another, all while thoughts had conflicted. She knew very well that Sans couldn’t answer because if he tells, it will make things more complicated. As for what happened to the children that were sacrificed to Mt. Ebott, she couldn’t care. She kept going north until she hits an empty plain, filled with flowers. She jumped down to the ground with a crouch, and then stood up to look around. It was a large, and a never ending field of flowers. A field where humans and monsters had fought in the war. Dianne clapped both hands together, and bowed. The wind blew, as the petals flew up while the moonlight breeze sings the tale of those who lost their lives. She closed her eyes as she pays respect for the dead, and recalled what Führi had requested. All while tears had flown down to the ground, the wind howls in sadness. A melody of memory had played, and in the end she stood to look at the beautiful field.

                “Young girl. Whenever you see a patch of flowers in the field, or somewhere in the surface, please give respect to them… They were my brethren.”

 

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be an Extra. But then, there are a lot of things that had happened, and every one of you guys wanted a happy ending. Well, this is a happy ending _for now_. Seed of Flowey had reached the mid-part of the story, and thanks to everyone who liked the story. Your support gives me **DETERMINATION** for me to keep on writing.
> 
> Now, for those who will think that this is going engage with no fights whatsoever, then you are **_wrong_**. Some of them are just itching to fight right now, heheheh. Well, once the domino hits the event, you might like what you read more. Dianne is not someone who you might want to take lightly. And one more thing... What will happen to everyone's favorite Spaghettoire, Papyrus? Well, you might want to ask Flowey.


	12. A sideline for each moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun back with a new Seed of Flowey story. For those who are wondering how the story went for the few days go visit Seed of Flowey - extra. It should answer some questions, and it feels like I should've put that on the main. Heh, sorry.

                It’s been days since Frisk returned, the improvements for the city project is already done. Sans in their new home, is still resting in his bed, heavily breathing. While his brother is keeping an eye on him, he noticed that and shouts to himself, “BUT WE DON’T EVEN BREATHE!” Even with his loud voice, it didn’t wake his brother up. His condition hadn’t improved since the night when everyone was eating together. The following days weren’t eventful, since Asgore acted like nothing happened. Same for Toriel as she continued cooking everyone meals, as usual. Grillby was summoned and he’s cooking Asgore the special spicy curry and fire salad. The servings sometimes make him cough while the water doesn’t seem to quench it, but he’s forcibly bearing the intense flavor. To most spicy food lovers and fire monsters, Grillby’s spicy curry can boost fire abilities to a maximum level. That type of serving is not very healthy for the King to consume since it could ruin his other elemental affinity, but he’d rather take that up than have Toriel’s cooking. Papyrus and Undyne also thought that with him around it should cheer up the lazy skeleton, but there were no improvements. Grillby took notice of it as well, but with being the King’s personal chef for some days had his fiery hands full. Papyrus couldn’t tell what is wrong, as he tried calling out to Sans. For two straight days, he made sure to look after his older brother, while everyone worked. Papyrus just sit at the side of the bed, concerned while looking at his resting brother. “SANS… WHAT IS WRONG?”

As for Day 3, the construction is finished and the electronic wirings are already fixed up by Alphys and Mettaton, while the big monsters are helping the residence move furniture to their newer home. Toriel is currently having the two wolf monsters help her move her belongings to Papyrus’ current house, since she wants to live with Sans for a while. At this day, she is also free to give the skeleton a check-up. “IN A FEW MOMENTS, TORIEL WILL COME AND FIX YOU UP, YOU LAZY SKELETON.” When he stood up from the bed, a glowing flame hovering above the resting skeleton gives off a small pulse. It made him feel weird while his eye sockets seem to be flickering, “UHHH… SANS….” His consciousness is drifting away, until he completely falls asleep on the floor. Two small monsters who were watching from the other room had entered and approached the two sleeping skeleton. “Dude, how about we put everyone to sleep when we pass by.” MK suggested while wagging his tail. “If we’re going to do that, then it would be weird for visiting humans to find monsters sleeping in broad daylight.” Asriel made his point with a frown.

                He approached Sans, who is sleeping on his bed and raised his hand. At that moment, he’s concentrating something, while MK went by the window to check if there will be others who will enter the house. “Ugh, no good.” Asriel puffed out air, breaking his concentration. Lowering his hand, he scratched his head trying to figure out something. “Weird, I thought using my determination could wake him up.” MK then turned his attention to his friend, “How about kissing?” Asriel looked back at him with shock, while blushing. “W-why would I do that?” he asked loudly. MK pointed at him with his tail and answered, “Frisk told me this story about Sleeping Beauty, where a prince breaks the sleeping curse, by kissing the princess. You’re a prince, right?”

                “What the heck?! Sans is no princess and that doesn’t apply in real life!” Asriel protested. MK then rubbed his tail onto his nose, “Then why not have Chara take over, and act as the princess kissing….” He snorts with laughter, “Prince Sans… ahehehe..” Asriel’s tone shifted into a dual tone, “ ** _The hell I would!_** ” From outside the house, they could hear a march of monsters with baggage. It looks like time is running out for them. “Could you at least try? You guys were able to make things possible with magic, kissing a sleeping skeleton wouldn’t hurt you.” MK stubbornly suggest, and with options running out every second, he gives a dreadful look as he turn to Sans. “F-fine! But I need to switch to… What do you mean you won’t switch?! …. I am a big boy, but that doesn’t mean that…. Okay okay! One kiss!” he finally agrees. Asriel slowly approaches the short skeleton, while passing the tall skeleton on the floor. As he steps closer, he tries to muster up the Determination to do it, while his Dignity is stopping him from doing it. He forcefully puckers his lips and slowly approaching Sans’ grin.

                Before his lips could even move an inch closer, he notices that Sans is waking up with his left eye socket giving a flicker. “Ack!!!” he pulls back in shock, as his face was blushing like a tomato. MK was startled by it, as the sleeping skeleton sits up from his bed and looked around. Both small monsters were shaking, while the skeleton noticed Papyrus sleeping on the floor. Without hesitation, Sans raises a finger up and lifts the two. At that moment, Chara senses danger and took control of Asriel’s body. She forces two arms to a put up a force body stance, breaking Sans’ control. The two fell on the floor, with Asriel kneeling down and MK flat on the floor. “and why are two dead children visiting the dead?” Sans suggest with a threatening tone, while getting off from his bed. “ ** _We really need to stop doing this._** ” Chara frowns her comment with a dull look on Asriel’s face. The skeleton put both hands on his pockets, grinning at them. MK pulled his head as he stands up, and with the atmosphere around them, there will be another unnecessary conflict.

                A moment of silence had passed by, and Sans gives a lazy and careless gesture. “welp, i’m heading to grillby’s.” Sans approached his sleeping brother and carried him into his bed. Before he could make a warp, Asriel stops him. “Wait! We need your help…” he hesitates to suggest. Sans almost disappeared, but remains to listen, while looking at them with a questionable expression. “We need your ability to enter Frisk’s home—“ Before finishing the sentence, the skeleton raised his hand to stop them. “no can do, kiddo. her home is full of surveillance cameras.” His suggestion gives an impression that he went there already, once. “why do you need to go? she could just visit this city some day or later, and just convey it here.” Asriel and MK hesitates to answer the question, but with his efforts to even come to this house is proof enough that they’re willing to take the risk. “I need to tell Frisk that we’re going to need her Determination—for that.” Sans gives a sigh, while closing his eye sockets. When he opens them, he just grins at them and said, “that’s all?”

                 “Look, me and Chara don’t really know why I’m still here. Maybe she could help me with it, and it’s urgent.” MK acts as a look out while the two talk things through. “and you need her determination for that…?” Sans tilts his head down a little, still not convinced about Asriel’s reason, frowning a bit. He then realizes something that is off with him. He returns his grin and asks the other curiously, “kid. do you remember taking all 6 souls, after killing your dad?” Asriel’s eyes widen, his expression of shock and fear doesn’t really suit him. “heh, figures.” Sans rubs his head while he looks down, while sweat seems to fall off from his skull. “just now, I dreamt of something. and i want frisk to confirm things for me, too.” He turns his attention back to the two young monsters. “Dudes, Toriel is coming with the two grunts.” He warns them. Asriel looks back, unease to see their mother again. Out of nowhere, their vision blurs for a moment. Without realizing it, they’ve warped somewhere dark. Toriel enters the room to see if she could check on Sans, but instead finds Papyrus sleeping. She looked around, and opens the window. Looking at the streets, there is no sign of him. She went down the stairs and into the living room, and asked the two wolf monsters. “Did you guys see Sans?” they shook their heads while placing the sofa. She goes back upstairs and checks Papyrus instead. “what the….?” Upon checking, she felt a familiar trace of magic that had struck the skeleton to sleep. “As….gore?”

 

* * *

 

                “Ugh, where are we?” Asriel struggle through the darkness while something soft is all around them, “Dude, your foot is on my face!” MK squirms around with them. His tail felt something smooth and solid, “I think this is what they call, a tight situation. he he.” Sans puns while relaxing his leg unto something soft. MK is feeling rather sick with the whole puns. “Sans, your leg is on my chest.” The other suggest, while trying to help push off. Something clicks, and it looks like that leg just extended. “hey asriel, it’s kind of rude to disassemble me in the dark.” The two young monsters realize what just happened and screams very loud. Light shines up when someone opens the door. The three were in a mixup in a small room, and Frisk happens to open it for them.

                “Asriel? Monster Kid?” she asks them. It turns out that they were stuck in a big closet, and with them squirming around just ruined most of Frisk’s casual attire to a wrinkle. “sorry to drop by, but it’s urgent.” Sans suggest while getting off from the pile. The other two followed, and as they dust something off, Frisk hugs Asriel and MK all together. Frisk lets go with a cheery smile “How are you still there? I thought you were going to turn back into a flower.” she’s glad that Asriel is still there. “Hey, Frisk! It’s been a long time, how are things, I heard that you’re a princess. Where’s your tiara? Are you going to be alright? Asriel’s a prince, and you’re a princess, can you two—“ Sans puts a sock on MK’s mouth just for him to stop talking. “we currently have our hands full. please don’t make it a mouth full.” The skeleton suggest. “Mmmffmffmmfff…” the armless kid muffles. “Frisk, listen. After the day we parted ways, I thought that I was going to turn back into a flower. But I think that, instead… Flowey is still out there…” For the time being while Asriel explain his story as short as possible, everyone sat on the middle edge of Frisk’s large mattress bed with five large pillows. The room she has is slightly bigger than Toriel’s given room, and there’s a large bookshelf and a long study table on the east side of the room. There are books put up there that seems to have been recently closed. Maybe she was studying before they got there. Just by looking at the two windows, Sans can tell that her room is around the fourth floor. The room is square wide, so they’re not really in a tower, and checking her stuffs she only has one red teddy bear and a toy knife.

                Just when he’s done talking, Frisk was thinking about all of it. “Hmmm… I think everyone needs to know about this. Also, why me?” she asks, while turning back to Asriel. “Because after you left me at the RUINS, I felt something weird. Something I’ve never felt before.” Frisk reaches out for her teddy bear all while Sans was about to say something. “well, maybe you could say that asriel fell in lo—“ the bear was shoved into Sans face before he could finish his sentence. “That’s not funny, Sans.” She suggest with her arms crossed. Asriel was blushing, and MK wants to tease him. “ _say it, and I’ll throw you outside._ ” Asriel’s tone of voice doubles with Chara, while he turns his head towards the other. “That voice…” Frisk looks at Asriel, and noticed that Asriel’s innocent eyes changed to someone else. “ _Oh, hello Frisk. I am Chara, the first human to fall at Mt. Ebott._ ” Frisk got off from her bed in surprise. Chara’s words felt weirds, as if it just gripped her SOUL. “ _Oh, you have my locket. Can I have it back?_ ” he notices that Frisk is wearing the locket he gave to Chara. “Oh, okay. Here.” She handed it to Asriel, as he gently brushes it with his finger. It pops open and a melody played. They didn’t say anything, as Chara reminiscence the memory she had before her stunt came into place. “ _I’m sorry… Asriel… I shouldn’t have used you like that…_ ” Seeing their picture in the locket, with a mark BFF written on the hatch, made Chara cry a little. Asriel could feel the regret Chara is feeling right now.

                Frisk comforts both of them, and gives her a gentle pat on the back. They closed the locket, and the melody stops. It was a special locket and it only opens to someone who first owned it. The locket never opened for Frisk when she had it. Asriel takes back his control over his body again, and wipes away the tears his best friend had left. He shook his head, “I still don’t remember anything.” Sans stood up from the bed and faces the three with a usual grin. “after observing for a while, i can only think of one other possibility.” Before he could give his opinion, someone knocks on the door. Frisk rushes towards it and turns the knob’s lock. “Frisk, may I have a word?” It was her Father, King Farlon. Asriel and MK hid under the bed in panic, while Chara suggests something. ‘ _Hey, Asriel. Do you still remember that trick dad made?’_ he nods in silence while Sans also squeezed in with them. Without wasting a second Chara takes over his body again, and casts a white spark.

The second knock on the door was slightly more silent. It must mean that if he knocks again, he’ll break the door open. Frisk then unlocks the door, and lets her father in. “Hmmmm? I thought I heard voices.” He looks around. He saw that her closet is open, and the clothes were messed up. “Why is your closet open?” he looks at Frisk in suspicion. “I dropped my locket in there while I was picking up some clothes, and I can’t seem to find it anymore.” She tries to reason. It seems that it lowered her father’s suspicion. “Hmmm, your teddy bear is on the ground.” He points at it, near the bed. She quickly picks it up and tries to reason again, “I didn’t notice.” her father raised an eyebrow. He knows that Frisk wouldn’t mess up her closet for that reason alone, and she never drops her teddy bear to the floor, not once did she let her favorite teddy bear fall. Recalling last year, after her mother had died, she stubbornly clings to the last toy that was given to her. Even when King Farlon threw the teddy bear away, she was nimble enough to catch it.

She never lets anything happen to her teddy bear, yet it was on the floor. “We have uninvited guests here, don’t we?” he suggests. Without hesitating, he squats down, and looked under the bed, before Frisk could even react. There was no one there, and after he stands up, Frisk felt someone tapping behind her. ‘don’t worry, Frisk. Asriel just used a cloak magic to hide us. We’ll be right there when you need it.’ MK whispers. She looks back, and didn’t see anyone at all. Asriel is progressing fast with his magic spells, Sans assumed. In their current situation, they’re invisible as long as they’re close to the caster. If they are to separate, then that person will become visible to everyone. In Asriel’s case, they can stay cloak as long as they don’t split. ‘It was Chara to taught me, that.’ he whispered to the two. With this magic, they can roam together at her home without being detected. They went out of the room, and into the hall.

 

* * *

 

                “Frisk, I want to let you know that Rance will no longer serve as your bodyguard.” Farlon suggest, while a felt of wind had passed him. The windows were close, and in the current weather they shouldn’t be any gust. “But father, he gave his favor and word as a Royal Guard to be there for me. He’s kind and protective, and what happened before isn’t his fault.” The King frowns in question, “what do you mean?” Frisk points something on the right side of the neck. “He was being controlled when he went berserk. A seed was rooted here.” Farlon’s eyes widen. “…. Tell me everything you know.” It didn’t take long, but her story seems to link with Sans’ consent. It seems that her reasoning had develop just by being considerably kind to monsters. Her eyes were filled with Determination. While she gave her story, her father was sitting on her bed with a sheathed rapier stood in his hand. He was tapping the end of the hilt, and thought of something. “Frisk, you have mentioned that you faced a flower monster before. What did you do to stop it from hurting you?” Frisk answered, “Toriel was the first to save me. Then, my friends. All of the monsters saved me, back then.”

                King Farlon stood up from her bed and asked his daughter to come with him. They exited her room and walked the long hall. There are small tables with plants on them, armor statues with axes are put on the side of the doorways. They continue without her father giving an explanation. Up until they are about to exit the castle. Each room had a pipeline in order to convey a word to all the rooms, and it is mostly used by the household when situations are brought up. If ever there is an occasion at their home, the pipes are closed so that visitors would not be able to use it. Everything in the castle is clean, and not one guard are also filthy. There are several strict rules, and cleanliness is one of them.

                The two guards opened the door for them, and there presents a car waiting for Farlon and Frisk to enter. This might mean that her Father is going to the hospital, where Rance is currently being treated, and cut the ties of his duty as Frisk’s bodyguard. The car they are using is a black Bentley State Limousine, with an emblem at the front hood. The emblem of the Royal Household: The Alpha Guard. A silver and black logo of a checkered shield, with a compass in the middle. The compass’ four pointers are aligned with the checker of the shield, and it makes it look unique, while the black needle points at both North and the silver needle points South. There are two swords sheathed at the back of the compass, which means that the user who wields it is battle ready. The King enters the front seat of the car, while Frisk enters the back seat. As she entered, it felt like something pushed her to the left side of the car. It looks like the three are joining in, while cloaked.

                The door closes, and the driver in a formal suit had entered. Starting the car with just a thumb print, the engines start to run. King Farlon took notice that his daughter went to the left side of the car, while a huge gap is currently vacant. “Frisk, why don’t you sit in the middle?” Frisk shakes her head and said, “I want to see the city, again.” She smiles sincerely, while hiding the fact the Asriel, MK, and Sans are with them. With the four, it shouldn’t be much of a squeeze. The car is wide enough for three big people at the back, so it should fit up to five small people. “Where are we going?” Frisk asked. Farlon looks back and answered, before looking back at the front, “To where Rance is being treated.”

The car starts moving, and the driver shifts the gear into drive. Looking out, the garden is magnificent and there are workers maintaining the cleanliness of it. There’s enough space for an army to train here, and with that thought, they drove pass an open space where soldiers practice shooting with their guns, some are having physical exercise, and some are sparring with one another. That must’ve been a routine for Rance and the other Royal Guards, since he mentioned that he’s been training every day. The castle they have is just as big as the Asgore’s home, and the thick outside walls are protecting it. There are four exits in different places, and four posts that check if anyone has an appointment with the king. If not, they will not pass. ‘heh, the whole place is like a compass.’ Sans whispered as they pass through the exit with a green marking above that says “West City”.

                Upon exiting, the tunnel was somewhat far. It means to say that the walls are really wide, enough for hundreds of people to live in. “This wall is where the soldiers currently live in. Am I correct?” Frisk mentions, and her father nods silently. With walls like this, it could shelter everyone in the city. That’s what Asriel assumes. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and there they see the West City. They look outside, and saw it in nature green theme. The buildings are mostly five to six stories, while some business and corporates go up to twenty. The streets are clean, and everyone living there maintains that cleanliness. Sans remembered that one of the Royal Guards for the humans had a green armor plating. ‘this must be where that other Royal Guard is stationed.’ Sans suggest quietly, while Frisk nods in amazement.

The city was beautiful, even with trees, it was maintained clean. Traffic seems to be okay, since there are only few cars that drive through. The traffic is perfectly managed, and it could be convenient for anyone to just play in the open. But the King wouldn’t want people to crowd the road and cause some problems. The street pavements are like the streets in Italy. There are people passing by, and Sans feels weird. Seeing so many humans who could just move on without the care in the world, made him sick. Clicking his teeth, the King looks back to see what is wrong. Frisk has a candy at hand, and it looks like she’s about to unwrap it. The noise was different from when Sans clicked his teeth, but it was slipped by.

                It was a nice timing for her to have a candy at hand, but any more suspicious movements won’t fool King Farlon for long, the four thought. They drove pass a university with a fountain. It looked more like the mayor’s mansion, but it seems that it only looked that way. “Here is where the mayor lives. He also serves as a principal in his own home.” King Farlon suggests while looking at his right. Frisk looked at her right, but she didn’t move towards it. It looks like he’s testing her to move there, and if she moves it might cause her friends to meek a voice. He still looks at the mansion, while waiting for Frisk to move. Instead, Frisk looked at her side and saw a rich woman with sunglasses and a large hat. On her hand is a small purse, while on her other hand is a leash of her large Dalmatian dog. “Look, father. A Dalmatian dog!” she kindly cheers, while the woman looks at her side and waves at her. People seem to be kind enough to notice her in the car. But at least they’re not bowing like the Vor siblings. Sans could only laugh inside his mind, while relaxing his back towards his seat. Closing his eye sockets, he almost fell asleep. But MK’s tail gently pokes his arm to wake him up.

                Frisk couldn’t see what’s happening with her friends, but through Asriel’s eyes he’s viewing the human’s city in a new perspective, while looking through the right windshield of the car. His small tail puff wags a little, while excited to see more of the humans and their wonders. It’s like a puppy who is excited to go to the park, but Frisk can’t tell. There they passed through the park, and some ice cream stand. More so, they passed a lot of stores with fancy clothes, and even toys. King Farlon directed his route so that Frisk would take notice, but it seems that she wasn’t interested in them. King Farlon looks back, and saw that his daughter looks sad. It seems that something was on her mind. King Farlon could only sigh, as his efforts to also entertain his daughter seem to have failed. The look in Frisk’s expression, was the same as when her mother had passed. King Farlon couldn’t bear his only child to be sad, and with his devotion right now, he should be supporting her more than ever. Soon, he whispered something to the driver.

                The driver nodded, and slams his foot towards the gas pedal. The car sped up which caused everyone at the back to feel the thrill of danger. It seems to have got Frisk’s attention as the car avoids traffic, and ignored all traffic lights. Everyone who saw their car speeding means that they need to get to their destination as soon as possible. As for King Farlon, he wanted everyone to feel the thrill of being in a speeding vehicle. Frisk clutched her hands on her seat. Even with seatbelts, she could feel her heart racing in fear. “Frisk, I know you’re worried about Rance. So we’re going to have things speed up!” he cheerfully said. This is the first time her father actually laughed at something risky, does that mean that he loves the feeling of thrill and excitement? She couldn’t even refute while the car is going 100kmph. The other three are confused, while Sans lay back on his seat chilling like most days. Asriel grips on the car’s door, while MK tied himself with the middle seatbelt. For a while, it’s speeding as they avoid the cars. Later, Frisk notices that the car is slowing down. She looks at her side and saw a big hospital, and for it to be the only white building makes it stand out.

                The moment the car had stopped, and the doors were unlocked, the four at the back ran outside. Frisk hugs the front grass in joy and relief as she screams, “Land!” falling and hugging the ground is embarrassing, but it would be natural for some kids to do that, after the events. As for the three invisible monsters, well they walked out slowly while feeling nauseous. “Come along now, Frisk. We must not keep him waiting.” King Farlon steps out of the car and proceeds to the entrance. The driver had come out, only to stretch his limbs. Soon after, Frisk followed. The three needed a moment, before they could even walk straight.

                “Why are we following them again?” MK asks in curiosity while they walk as a group. They didn’t mind the look in the environment, as they continue. “Because Frisk’s dad seems to know something about it.” Asriel reasons, while Sans agreed. He’s just a sentry, who wouldn’t bother asking any more questions unless he sees and hears it from himself. They entered the elevator with Frisk and King Farlon, without making any sound. Just when the elevator door was about to close, a male nurse presses the button to open it, and came inside with a very old lady in her white patient dress on a wheelchair, in his care. They made way; Frisk and King Farlon went to the right side, while the invisible monsters to the left, while it seems that the old lady is trying to say something. Her wrinkles look heavy enough to stop her from talking, and with little strength she could only murmur two words per minute. “oh…..my……” her first word as the door closes. The elevator had made its ascension but it felt that it was going very slow, and while waiting the elevator is playing its music.

                Waiting patiently, the nurse had nodded his head towards the king as they exchange greetings. The old lady is still struggling to talk. “….god….! it’s…..” is what she’s trying to tell. The first two words were assumed to be an astonishment for the King and her daughter to be visiting in the hospital, but the second two words seem to be frightful. King Farlon felt unease, as he waits for her next two words. Frisk could tell that she’s not feeling well. Maybe this is what it’s like to be very old, and in her assumption it looks like she’s 1000 years old. It was rather rude to make an assumption like that, she thought.

                “a….. **SK-SK-SK-SKELETON!** ”

                After saying her words, she slowly takes a deep breath, before screaming in fear and panic. The elevator room was in a pickle, and while the nurse tries to calm her down, Sans was in front of her. The skeleton, who has been grinning at the old lady, was invisible with Asriel and MK. How come an old lady could see through them. She was in awe while fear grips her thinking. Looking around made her see three monsters in front of her, the other two were trying to pull Sans away, which only made her panic more. She tries to point something while her mouth was open, with her eyes focusing at the short skeleton. “What is wrong?!” King Farlon is confused. The nurse is trying to calm her down, while Frisk gets the picture. She’s losing her breath, and it looks like she’s on the brink of having a heart attack. Frisk pats her back, as her attention still hasn’t moved. She struggles to kick at the skeleton, but instead he floated a bit and made eye contact with the old human, face to face. “ahhhhh, ahhhhhhhhnnn.. Ahhhuhhhnnnnn!” she couldn’t sanely connect what she’s trying to say anymore. Asriel has to cast a sleeping magic, but with the panic happening, MK couldn’t think of a way. He looks around, while it felt like the elevator’s space was shrinking. His claustrophobia is acting up, while whipping his tail towards Asriel’s face. The two children had made skin contact with the panicking old lady, and then something happened.

                The elevator stopped moving, and the lights went dim for a moment. Something was glowing at the back of the old lady’s neck. Soon, it sparked so bright that she lost consciousness. Frisk pulled her hand back, while Asriel stood away from her. Sans uses his powers to shut MK up, and then the lights began to flicker on again. The elevator is moving again, but only made to the third floor. The door opens, and the nurse rushes the patient to an emergency room. People who were outside the elevator were looking at the King, as they may have heard the screaming. “Excuse us.” he nodded once, before the elevator door closes. This time, Frisk pressed the number 5, and the elevator is finally moving at a normal speed. The nurse pressed the number 3 with a cane symbol, which might have mean that the elevator can move slowly for people with disabilities or at an elder age.

                They all exited the elevator with an awkward look on their face…except for Sans, whose been grinning this whole time. He looks satisfied with his prank, as they walk while cloaked. “they say that plants have no souls, but i never knew a ginger had one. hehehe…" Asriel turns his attention to the cheerful skeleton, “what the heck, Sans? Why are you doing that to someone you’ve never met?” their voices were rather loud, and the King looks back to see who it was. Frisk stop to notice that the King looks back, with his eyebrow raising up. She just facepalms for a moment and gives a seriously bad glare at an open space. The three noticed her actions and stopped talking. It looks like King Farlon is getting the picture that they’re not alone, anymore.

                At the room 513, there was Rance resting in bed, watching the TV news about the declaration of the King. It was so controversial that they’ve had a number of talk shows explaining why the King did that. All he could do is rest, since he’s chained to his bed. He can break them, but if he does that he might be sentenced to death for it. There was a knock on the door, and there the King and his daughter have entered Rance’s room. “Ah! Good morning, your highness and Frisk!” he tries to put his hand up to salute, but the shackles are preventing him from doing so. It only made things awkward as the two enter the room. In that moment, King Farlon whacks his sheathed rapier unto the patient’s head. Rance’s head fell directly on the pillow he has, while he’s seeing stars. “That is for not greeting my daughter properly.” He frowns as he puts his rapier back to his belt. “Father, it’s not his fault! I personally commanded him to do that when he found me!” Frisk protests. The three sat on the bench near the door, and while they chuckled lightly, King Farlon draws his blade out and swings it towards the bench, the three evaded the attack but were separated in the process.

                It was just one swing, but there were three separate slashes which were aimed at the three cloaked monsters out of panic. Asriel, MK and Sans were revealed in the open, and the two were scared out of their lives. If they didn’t move, they would’ve been dusted. “I knew it.” Those were serious tones coming from him, and before he could make another swing, Frisk blocks the way with open arms. “No, don’t hurt them!” Frisk defends them. “Huh, what are they doing here?” Rance recognized the three monsters. He knew Sans, but not the other two. The King spares the three, but as they stood up he lightly shook his eyes towards the wall which means, ‘go stand on the wall and answer my questions.’

                “First off, you were tailing us since back at the castle, weren’t you?” they nodded, while Asriel looked sideways. The king pointed the tip towards the young goat and in intimidation, he nodded three times while pinching his eyes closed in panic. His ears flopped up and down, which somehow made the situation less heart aching. He then turns his attention to Frisk. “And you did not mention this because?” Frisk answered almost immediately, “Because they wanted to see me, without being discovered by anyone else.” There was a moment of silence, and Sans felt a sudden de ja vu. But in their situation, Papyrus isn’t there to bail them out. “Please don’t scare my friends, they’re here because of what happened before.” Frisk tries to reason, and since they’re in a hospital it might give everyone with poor health condition if they see their king in his serious look.

                King Farlon sheathed his rapier and gives off a sigh, all while trying to massage his forehead. They couldn’t sit on the bench anymore, since it fell to pieces. He decides to spare them the tension, and gives off a sigh. “Care to explain yourselves, please?” he asks nicely. He look towards Sans, “I’m here giving the two a shortcut.” He then looks at the armless monster, “I’m here to see Frisk again.” His smile somehow brightens the mood, and lastly, he looks at Asriel. Before Asriel could give his reason, the King talks first. “Aren’t you King Asgore’s dead son?” he couldn’t think of a good reason how he came back to life. Chara then makes a suggestion to him. Asriel closes his eyes for a moment, and then opens them again. “ _We’re here to ask for Frisk’s help. Since her Determination had lead us to our freedom._” The tone of his voice was different, as if there were two children talking at the same time. That wasn’t Frisk’s voice, but Chara’s. King Farlon kneels down to look at Asriel’s eyes, and saw that it was someone else. The monster's fear had completely disappeared.

                Asriel gives a creepy smile as he introduces himself, “ _My name is Chara. The first human to have fallen down Mt. Ebott, and the best friend and sibling of Asriel Dreeemurr._ ” Rance couldn’t believe what he’s seeing; a child who had fused with a monster. King Farlon steps back, and felt a sudden grip of fear in his heart. Frisk couldn’t say anything that couldn’t offend her father, and the two in between Asriel had looked at him. Asriel continues to smile at them, while sweat starts to flow down from the humans’ faces. What will happen next?

-To be continued…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How'd you like the story progressing? There's a small but significant development, and it seems that Asriel isn't so lucky with what just happened. The whole structure of the story seems to be different from what I had in mind before, but the flow of the story is still similar to what I had in plan... No, I'm not Flowey.


	13. The Future of Both Humans and Monsters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here sharing the next chapter in advance. Wooh! I feel like I'm on a roll. Apparently, that's all for now. Next week is going to be a busy week for me.

                In a hospital room at the 5th floor. King Farlon faces Asriel, with the first human taking control of his body. Rance can tell a different feeling as Chara takes control. Sans closes both eye sockets, while MK couldn’t move because of the pressure. Frisk couldn’t intervene, since her father is asking the questions. “Tell me, why did you follow us here?” he asks slowly. Chara gives one small grin while turning Asriel’s head slightly sideways. “ _Do not misunderstand my presence. I am also here on my best friend’s behalf._ ” King Farlon’s eyebrows drop down, that look is an assumption for straying off the topic. “ _We had a hunch that you might know something about a certain ‘flower’ monster, that’s been causing a lot of trouble. Take it for instance, that **human** over there looks like he had the seed for ten years._ ” They turn to look at Rance. “Huh? What do you mean?”

                “ _I mean what I said. You have been a host of Flowey’s seed for a long time. You are lucky that it did not ruin your sanity._ ” Chara commends. “So, you’re saying that the flower has been...” Farlon asks in shock, and with that the monster nods slowly with a frown. “ _Getting back to the topic, we are here to hear your side. As I have mentioned, you know something that we do not know. And we know something that you do NOT know._ ” King Farlon looks down while brushing his beard, thinking of what to ask, and what to say to him. Sans steps in to interrupt the moment. “as i was saying a while ago, before your highness have knocked on the door, i have a hunch.” Asriel and the King now looks at Sans, while Rance looking down on his bed sheet, spacing out about what was said. Frisk looks at him in curiosity, and while she looks at him, she notices that there are black dots on the side of his neck.

                “judging from the story you told us, your hatred created that flower. but that isn’t the only thing the manifested.” Sans takes a pen out of his pocket and plays with it with his fingers, all while his other hand is in his pocket. Raising his pen while spinning it around, he continued. “that flower is originally **you** , but since you’re here, my guess is that weed is half of you.” Ending that sentence, he points the pen at him, and with his guess, it raises more questions for the King. “Sans, explain it in a way that everyone in this room can understand.” Frisk gives her comment. Sans breathes through his grin, as he starts his explanation.

                “the kid’s been dusted a long time ago by humans, along with the fallen child. chara’s hatred towards humanity clings to prince dreemurr’s dust, that his dust turned into nutrients on the ground, which sprouted into the flower. after he was reborn by dr. alphys’ experimental drug, he became a cruel monster with no emotions, and has the power to mess with the timeline. a power that creates a de ja vu effect for humans. but **i can remember all of it**.” That last part was said slowly while stressed; his left eye socket gives a piercing blue light of pure hatred, which intimidated the young ones around him. That overwhelming pressure filled the room, and then it slowly dissipates. He calms down for a moment, and waited for everyone to loosen up. “while the kid turned into an evil flower, the brat’s soul was being used as the CORE’s power source for the underground by the  previous royal scientist. overseeing everything that is happening, and watching over how the monsters live. the reason why he regained his original form and emotions, is because your kid showed patience, bravery, integrity, perseverance, kindness, justice, and the most important thing: determination. she gave everyone hope, that even her supposed enemies became her friends. Including…” he closes his right eye socket, and focuses his left glowing eye on Asriel. “to be honest, i don’t think he regained his true form because of that. the last thing that happened was the barrier breaking, and your kid sleeping on the floor, counting sheeps and goats.”

                The king was puzzled by the last part, in that moment he was going to refute that logic, “The reason why he regained his true form is not because of what I showed to everyone.” Frisk steps forward, while Asriel unconsciously looks down rubbing his arm as Chara frowns. Sans knew what really happened, but didn’t add that to his explanation. “The reason why he regained his form, is because…” Frisk is starting to hesitate, and her determination is being pulled back for a reason. Asriel takes back his control over his body and answered: “because I took the six human souls my dad had gathered, and every monsters’ soul.” MK looks at Asriel in shock, Frisk looks at him in the eye, and King Farlon steps back with eyes wide open. This monster has the ability to take everyone’s soul, and yet he stands here with hundreds of humans at his disposal. His hand reaching for his weapon shakes in nervousness, but couldn’t just attack just yet. Asriel continued from this point on, while Chara looks down in regret. “At that day, after Frisk befriended everyone… What I can remember, was that I was going to kill Frisk. But everyone stopped me, and supported her. In their action to prevent me from taking her SOUL, I took everyone else’s and made her face me at my fullest. But…”

                “But what?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now!” King Farlon reacted when he heard that this goat monster was going to kill her. He unsheathed his rapier and points it at him. Before, Asriel was afraid when a blade was pointed on his face. But now, his eyes were too filled with **DETERMINATION** to be afraid of him. He transforms into his adult form, where his overall changed. His height matches with Rance’s, his fangs grew visible, as well as his ears, horns and nails, and his attire transformed into a robe similar to Toriel’s. But his eyes were clear, not black. Looking at the King’s eyes and showing that he means no harm contradicts with everyone else’s sense of danger. “ **But Frisk refused to be killed. She struggled against me, and saved everyone’s soul. Then, she saved mine.** ” He looks at both his hands in question. “You were never meant to hurt anyone, to begin with.” Frisk reaches for his hands and held them both. They both look at each other’s eyes, as she smiles at him. “ **She reached into my SOUL, that woken up my dormant emotions. At that moment, I…** ” he lets go of her hands, as flames engulfed him. The heat of the flames was tolerably warm, but the flame itself did not leave any scorch marks on the floor and the wall. After that, he regains his child form. Those innocent eyes of his didn’t show any deceit, Rance could tell. “I cried to myself. ‘why did I do all that?’ it hurts so much that all of the things I have done overwhelmed me. Then, she comforted me, when I felt so alone that time.” Tears were flowing in his eyes, while his mouth struggle not to cry out. MK is slowly starting to understand things, as for a brief moment Asriel wipes away his tears. “In return, I gave everyone back their souls, and broke the barrier along the way. With my last ounce of my power, I forced back time by a few minutes, and made everyone forget what happened. With no souls to maintain my body, I told her to move on without me. Because with nothing else to maintain my form…”

                “You will turn back into a flower.” Rance answered calmly. Asriel looks at him and nods silently. “But you didn’t…” King Farlon followed, closing his eyes while clenching his teeth. He sheaths back his weapon, and sits by the bed. Shaking his head, he couldn’t swallow everything that was just explained. It’s too much to bear, and they could pretty much understand that. “After that, I went back to the RUINS and slept there. When I woke up at night, I was still in this form. And then, Flowey attacked me.” Sans gives out a sigh, and puts back the pen on his pocket. “and then your adventure starts. you went from the RUINS to the HOTLANDS, and into the CORE. finding your best friend’s SOUL in a large container and fled with monster kid. right?” he gives a rather relaxed and rushed answer. The two young monsters looked at Sans in shock, how did he know that? “heh, i was just guessin’ goats, there.” he grins to the side. Chara can tell the obvious that he was lying. She never felt his presence when they were making an escape.

                Farlon turns to the young monster, “How does a flower connect to people going berserk?” That’s the one question that they don’t know. “kid here doesn’t remember any of that, like i mentioned a while ago. here we have half of him. the other half knows very well what it does, but i can assume that it involves a **seed**.” Sans gives his possibility. He turns to Rance and asks, “hey, **meat puppet**. do you remember any  golden flower that has a facial expression?” Rance slams both his clenched hands on his bed, “I have a name, you know?!” the two can’t seem to get along. It didn’t take while before Rance answers his question. “Back at the farmhouse. There was a golden flower with a warm smile. I thought it was a toy, but then after I felt a mosquito bite on my neck, it disappeared. But that only felt like a de ja vu…” Sans closes his eye sockets while giving a short ‘heh’, and then it suddenly made sense to him. “Wait a minute, you mean to say that… That was…?” he gives a nod at the patient. “combined with the fatigue you had for a number of days, you didn’t even realize that you were already being controlled.”

                King Farlon looks at both of him, and given by that skeleton it became clear. “So that flower, shoots a seed pellet at anyone it wants, and those people or even monsters will have that Red Moon effect…” Sans gives a nod without looking at anyone. “your tea also contributes in slowing down the process. but that alone ain’t gonna cure them.” He points at Frisk, and then at Asriel. “Frisk…” Asriel nods at her, then comes closer to Rance by the side. Without hesitation, he held Rance’s left hand and from there, the black dots started glowing. “What are you?— gckhkk!“ before he could finish asking, the black dots started pulsing. It was painful to bear for him as it felt like something was burning hot on the side of his neck. He pinched his eyes close, while gritting his teeth while his legs were kicking. “i’ll hold him off.” Sans says, as he raises his left hand. Rance’s body suddenly froze in place as his mind is going crazy; Sans’ hand was twitching and Rance is starting to fidget little by little. “You still have some of them in you. Just hold on!” Asriel held both of his hands as they start to shine brighter. The King locks the door, and MK tries to help Asriel by holding one of Rance’s foot in place. Frisk then grabs hold of his hand and both Asriel and Frisk gave their all.

                After some time, the glow stops and the black dots he had disappeared. Rance rests ease on his bed while the two let go. Asriel gives a sigh, while Frisk wipes her forehead. Sans finally drops his hand and puts it back to his pocket. King Farlon doesn’t really know what to do with this situation, but it seems that he’s getting some answers. “Now… Care to explain that?” King Farlon was leaning against the door, with several thoughts flying all over his mind. “I don’t really know… I just got it, after Frisk...” he then turns to her, and his look towards her is just as tiring to hear as the explanation. Frisk just shook her head; she doesn’t know the answer as well. “… We’ll have the doctors check you up. Is that all?” King Farlon shakes his head, looking at everyone else, with both hands raised above and apart his chest. It looks like he’s had enough for today. “Actually, hahh…. there is one…more thing.” Rance turns his head towards them, “This had been bothering me for a while, but… I think I saw the end.” Sans closed both his eye sockets and listened.

                “I… saw the Kingdom falling into ruins, all while a giant abomination reaped everyone’s life with its vines. We, the Royal Guards were the first to die, and then the rest… That wasn’t a dream, now was it?” he turned his head towards Frisk. She hesitates to ask, but with everything falling to place right now, she was filled with **DETERMINATION**. King Farlon can see how the fire lits up from her eyes, and asks: “Did that abomination have a giant TV box for a head, a giant body made of plant and machine, and countless vines?” Sans looks at Frisk, while MK just sits on the edge part of the bed, laying down without knowing what they’re talking about. “and has a funny way of being a cruel and menacing?” The room grew silent for a moment, as if all the three had faced this monster. “What are you talking about? Is-is there another monster that we should be concerned of?”

For a while, King Farlon didn’t act as a King in the presence of them but more like any human would. Knowing too much is a suffering, and knowing less is bliss. “that’s flowey after taking all six human souls. and we might be facing it again, in the future.”

                “Hold on, where did it got the six human souls?” That part was never clarified, and Asgore never mentioned anything about it. “sigh… i can’t answer that one. ask the king someday.” Sans said, while stretching his body around. A number of cracking sounds had popped since he’s been standing around without even moving to another spot. “That’s enough for today… And before I forget, Rance.” King Farlon remembered what he wants to tell him, and Frisk is there to hear it for herself. “How are you feeling right now?” Rance sits up and tries to move his body. Judging from his movements, it seems that he’s okay. “I feel better, and my chest feels lighter. I’ll be ready for tomorrow’s duty, your Highness.” He sounds livelier than before, and King Farlon is relieved that the young warrior is okay. “Good, as for tomorrow you will no longer serving as the Royal Guard of the North.” It took some time for him to process that, and when it did.

                “Wait, what?! Why?!” he asks with a dumbfound look. “You will be Frisk’s personal bodyguard and teacher for the time being. I’ll be asking Ciel to take your spot, but you will first test him before he takes your position. Also, your belongings will be transferred to your new quarters. That is all.” Rance is still in shock, his jaw drops while twitching upwards. “B-but sir!” King Farlon knocks the tip of his metal scabbard to the floor and stressed, “My daughter, Frisk might be in grave danger now that we are facing a new enemy of both humans and monsters. And with her ability as well as the young monster’s, that flower will stop at nothing to take them away! Your oath to protect her still stands, and you seem to have promised her that you will be spending more time with her. Did you not?” Rance closed his mouth and looks down for a moment. He did make a promise, so that she would return to her father. Now, he needs to fulfill it. Because of that thought, he then looks at the King. “I have made that promise, for her to return. Now, it’s time for me to fulfill it.”

                Asriel walk towards Frisk, while MK falls asleep in bed. A bubble had been growing and shrinking as he breathes. Asriel whispers to her ear, ‘Frisk, I can’t go back to the monster city. I—‘ Without warning, a hand had held both their shoulders and lowered his head in between them, ‘and why is that?’ King Farlon whispered along with a smile, and surprised both of them. The two turns around as the King fixed his stance. “Well, you see… Because I’m already dead, I can’t face them. And with what I’ve done… I don’t want to break their hearts…” King Farlon brushes his beard in thought. “You don’t seem to have the resolve, yet. Well, Asriel why not stay at our castle in the mean time?” from one surprise up to another. Asriel steps back with one hand in front of his chest, while the other at the back. “Eh?! Is it okay for me, a monster to… stay at your…” he hangs down his head and had both his hands clasp together. The King kneels down to Asriel’s height and gave him a warm smile. “It is okay, our home maybe different from yours, and you might not be used to seeing humans around. But if you like, we will accommodate you for as long as you wish.” Frisk smiles and gives a nod. Asriel was glad and happy, that it was like a similar thing happened to Chara when Asgore welcomed her.

‘Now, I understand that you may not be accustomed to seeing monsters. And our home may not be able to compare to the surface… But we will accommodate you for as long as you wish.’ Those were the words that welcomed her to the Dreemurr family. Asriel nod towards Farlon as he starts to cry. He stood up and walk towards the door, unlocking it. MK wakes up from his rest, and Frisk comforts the crying monster. “heh, uhhh. . . your highness? with your permission. may i help frisk with her studies?” Sans kindly suggest. The King turns around towards Sans, and asks in curiosity. “And what is your special field?” Sans threw the pen in an arch towards him, and as the king catches the pen with a single grip, “Number ~~1~~ 2 Scientist.” He looks at Sans with a confident grin. Closing one eye socket, while the other one focuses on him. In return, he pulls out a sheet of paper of questionnaires from his sleeve and folds it unto the pen’s holder.

“heh, this would be a breeze. but I can’t say the same for your bodyguard.” Sans teased while he catches the pen, and unfolds it himself. “Hey! I’ll have you know that I’m the top one in Physical Education and History class. I bet you don’t even know how a muscle works.” Rance impressively replies, but with him not able to cross his arms ruined his moment. “I bet nobody noticed your shackles either.” He still writes on the paper, without taking his eye sockets off of it. Someone knocks on the door, and Asriel had to wake up MK before making an impromptu cloak; Sans is still busy answering, while Rance gives his rant. It didn’t bother the skeleton since he’s too busy answering the questionnaire the King gave him. “Sans, we need to go—“ Asriel looks at him in worry, but a finger bone blocked his mouth from saying anything else. The paper floats as he finishes writing his answers. The paper floats back towards the King and takes hold of it. He folds it back into a smaller sheet and puts it into his pocket. “I will have one of the professors check it. If you pass, you can be one of Frisk’s home school teachers.” Sans tilts his head to his right and raises his shoulders a bit before dropping them back down. He’s confident, that much Frisk can tell.

Asriel prepares a floating flame with MK and with a light pulse, they disappear in thin air. Sans didn’t bother joining, since he’ll be taking a shortcut soon. But it seems that he and Rance have something to talk about. “i’ll go on ahead. i think mr. patient zero needs to have a word with me.” He suggests, while Rance glares at the skeleton in return. “Oh, I have a lot to talk about.” Rance gives off an intimidating grin, and it doesn’t look too good. “Try not to get too rough around the edges. You’re needed tomorrow, Vor.” He gives a sigh; he needs to get some air before getting his strength back. Frisk held his hand as they unlock the door and went out, while Asriel and MK followed. Outside the room, there was Bianca with a tray plate of apples, a knife, and a glass of water. “Y-y-your highness-es!” she meeks in surprise. Her hands started shaking, while it looks like the glass of water is going to spill. King Farlon closes the door with his right, while having Frisk hold his left. “At ease, apprentice. I just had a talk with him, I’m not here to…” Frisk then pulls his hand with a stern look on her face. She’s worried about Rance and Sans being left alone. “Not to worry, Frisk. Rance will be okay on his own. Nothing can possibly go wrong.” He gives a fake cheery smile, but with that last line, Frisk facepalms for a moment. Bianca gets the picture as well, and the King doesn’t know that when that line is said, there would be an upcoming disaster.

                “ **MAYBE YOU’LL BE THE ONE HAVING A BAD TIME AFTER I TURN YOU INTO A SCIENCE ROOM PROP!!!** ” Rance retorts from his room. A number of loud thumping sounds and metal collision, followed by breaking glass and a sound similar to a gun with a suppressor could be heard from the outside. Everyone felt a slight tremor while the sound of war gets louder. Frisk lets go of her father’s arm and opens the door immediately. The two who were having a fight to the death immediately stopped when someone slams the door open. From the look of things, Rance was standing on the floor, with broken chains on his arms and legs. He’s using the bed as a shield, while the side metal was being used as a substitute weapon. The side tables are already broken to pieces, thanks to the bones Sans made, the shattered TV had a bone in the middle, and the water vase was spilled on the other side of the wall, with shards scattered. Sans however, was floating atop and had a number of floating bones aimed at the other one. With already five long ones stabbed at the bed, a few more would have punctured it, leaving Rance in the open. The two had a fierce look at one another, but was changed into a sudden surprise after Farlon, Frisk and Bianca saw the catastrophe. The whole room is a complete mess, and King Farlon’s brain nerve twitches.

                Sans lands on the floor, and Rance puts the bed back to its original place, only for it to disassemble itself later on. Bianca is normally afraid of Sans, but with Rance also messing up, she couldn’t hold on. “YOU IDIOTS!” she threw her tray as the two tried their best not to get hit. Rance blocks off three apples, but on landed on his head, while Sans dodges the other ones including the knife, only to get splashed by Rance deflecting the glass of water. Frisk pulls away her father’s sheathed rapier before he could even grab it, then runs away towards the other side of the hall. “FRISK, GET BACK HERE!” it was a wild chase between the King and the Princess, while everyone else are confused with their interactions; they didn’t bother asking why. She flees fast enough to lose her raging father from sight. For a full ten minutes, her father became exhausted, as he tries to grasp some air. “Frisk… come back…” Frisk however feels like running around for another five minutes. But because her father has a condition, she returns with a cup of water.

For the moment, everything finally cooled off and Frisk returns the sheathed weapon. It couldn’t be helped, and as for the two troublemakers… They both had a whack on the head with a plastic tray by Bianca. It didn’t really hurt Rance, since he has a hardhead, while Sans seem to have dealt little damage from it. The King pardons the two for today, while explained to the hospital’s apprentice that it was ‘he’ who caused the commotion. Sans already warped away, while Rance was transferred to a new room. This time, with no chains around him. Bianca told him that he is ready to be discharged, regardless of him getting a new room. King Farlon and Frisk returned to their vehicle, this time with Asriel and MK breaking the cloak after entering the car. The driver looks at the rearview mirror, and gasps in surprise. Kicking the steering wheel with his knee, King Farlon tells him, “There’s nothing to worry about. These two are Frisk’s friends. They will be coming home with us.” in that calm tone, it puts the driver exhales a bit while looking at the back. He looks at them again, and noticed that Asriel looks like a stuff animal. He turns back while fixing his seat, as he starts the car. Frisk puts on their seatbelts to prevent any more accidents, and this time the car drives off normally.

* * *

 

Sans warps back to the front door of his house. When he opens the door, there were Papyrus and Toriel expecting his return. From one bad time unto another, and with Toriel’s fiery aura he couldn’t give a slack response. “Where were you?” Toriel crossed her arms as she impatiently thumps her foot on the floor. Papyrus grabs hold of Sans through a shoulder lock before he could even warp away. Normally, he could get away with it, but if it’s Papyrus locking him, his power to escape will render useless. “uhhh, i was sleep walking?” he nervously answered, while his glowing pupils looks around. “YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE? YOU’VE BEEN DOWN AND ASLEEP FOR DAYS, AND YOU SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR. HOW COULD YOU?” among everyone else who was worried sick, Papyrus outs everyone in the monster capital. Undyne couldn’t get in touch because Asgore had a task for her. Alphys came out of the other room with a slice of pie, and when she saw Sans on a shoulder lock, she drops her plate. “Oh my god.” Before it could even shatter, Sans warps the plate on the table. “what do you mean? i only had like eight hours of nap.” Sans reasons, but Toriel shook her head. “No, you’ve been asleep for more than two days. Papyrus, do not let go.” As she gave her command, she approaches the short skeleton with her hand lighting up a calm white flame. She slowly waves it around his body, and then something inside him was squirming. Before it could even react, it was burned off completely. The remains dropped from his pants, and turned into ashes.

                “Sans, what was that?” Toriel asks, with her eyes peering towards Sans’ glowing pupils. She then waves her flaming hand towards the skeleton’s skull and more of it squirms around. From the eye sockets, something burned off and fell through his body. From the size of it, looked like ticks. Sans then remembered something. It flashed before his eye sockets that something caught him while he was warping back, days before he fell asleep. Something black, and oozes with a negative energy. Something with hands for holes, as it whispered something that cannot be understood in human language. The black ooze consumed him, until he reaches his destination with little energy left inside him. All that suddenly surged back into him, weakening his strength. When Papyrus noticed that his brother couldn’t struggle, he turns his shoulder lock into a body carry. Sans holds his head, trying to ease the pain of remembering it giving him a face to face glare. Without even realizing it, Papyrus carries him to the couch, as Sans lay staring at the ceiling. “i think I won’t be taking a shortcut anymore.” He rubs his head, trying to loosen up his headache.

                “Sans, where did you go?” Toriel asks, and with a slight head turn, Sans answered. “i… was tutoring frisk, and then….” he just shook his head. “Sans, you know you shouldn’t keep us in the dark like that. Papyrus has been keeping an… eye socket on you without eating anything.” Toriel mentions as she brushes her hand towards Sans’ head. Alphys takes up a jar and collected the burnt pieces with tweezers, and then seals it off. One of the black chars twitched before stopping completely. She then brings it to them with a confused look. It looks like he’s been cornered, and with Papyrus hearing all of this, he has no choice but to give them the details, without mentioning Asriel or MK. Alphys sits beside Toriel, while Papyrus sits beside Sans. He gives them their findings that they had gathered back at the camp, and as they listened, Toriel looks down for a moment. Alphys covered her eyes in shame for what she did. Two monsters who had a horrifying nightmare couldn’t tell if they’ll be okay. In the end, Sans story leads to Frisk being their only hope in being cured by the seed. It couldn’t be any worse to put all of that on a kid, but it’s the only way he could cover up the other option. The sun goes down, and as Alphys left their home, her hands shake nervously. The street lights have been turned on automatically, and the other bystanders have went back to their homes.

                Alphys is left all alone outside, with her thoughts running all over the place she doesn’t know where to go. While walking alone, she passed by the dark alley. “ _make….more~!_ Flowey’s voice echoed through, making her flinch in fear. “Nngghh!” she sits down on the pavement, covering her head while trying to discard her fears. She pinches her eyes shut as the voice grew louder. It kept echoing to her, until someone taps her by the shoulder, and runs away as fast as she could. In the end, it was only Bratty and Catty who came out of the dark alley, concerned of what Alphys was doing on the side of the streets crying to herself. Little do they know that the flower monster was hiding in a garbage can, looking for more potential pawns nearby.

* * *

 

                A while back at the Human Capital… Asriel and MK were welcomed to Frisk’s home, courtesy of King Farlon’s generosity. But to keep things in secret, they are asked to cloak themselves from the guards, chef, butlers and maids. King Farlon makes his way from the entrance to their new rooms. At the entrance, it is a big hall, with a large staircase towards the second floor. The ground floor has a total of five doors. Two at each side of the stairs, two at the second floor, and one as the entrance. There are tables and plants for decoration, a mirror at the left side next to the bedroom halls of the butlers, chefs and maids; and a speaker at the corner top of the hall. They went ahead towards the staircase, and then walked to the left door. There are a number of doors and portraits, but not one of them are familiar to Frisk or Asriel. All of the portraits have silver crested frames, which determine their ranks. That’s what Frisk learned before.

                Entering the long hall’s door is another staircase, which leads to the third floor. This is where the royal household and important guests are stationed, but there are only few who currently stay there. The two scholars, the King, and the Princess. The one in the middle door is the King’s, while the second right is Frisk’s. It was weird as to why the King’s daughter’s room is far from his, Asriel had thought. And just at the front of Frisk’s room is an elevator that is currently out of order. King Farlon enters Frisk’s room, and with a puzzled look, Frisk asks. “Aren’t you going to give Asriel and MK their rooms?” King Farlon looks around. Her room has been tidied while they were away, and the books in her bookshelf has been organized. There the closet, the King struggles to move it to the side. Asriel and MK assisted, and with their combined efforts reveal a secret room. “Huh?” the three kids didn’t know this room. “This will be your new room. Make yourselves at home.” King Farlon gives them a bedroom which is secretly connected to Frisk’s. Inside the room, there are two beds with their own table lamps at the side. There is also a study table, but in comparison the bookshelf is empty. The closet they have is also empty, with a note inside they read the line. “Goodluck, kid. -Sans” It seems that this is where he ended up first, instead of the other closet filled with clotes.

                The two humans smile with glad that Frisk’s friends are amazed with how neat Asriel and MK’s room is. There is a box of toys that they could use to play with, and with their rooms connected to Frisk’s, they can lend books and either study separately or together. “Thanks, Frisk’s Dad! This is so cool!” MK gives his sincere remark, while Asriel could only do so much as to give his thanks as well with a smile. Inside Asriel’s mind, he feels glad that everything is going well. Maybe King Farlon is just as kind as his father was. But then, Chara whispered something.

“You two are the future for both humans and monsters.”

* * *

 

                It didn’t take long before Rance Vor left the Hospital. He’s discharge with his armor attachments confiscated at the time being. He wore his white shirt, with his outer coat tied on his waist like a belt, with brown camouflage pants and dark brown shoes. He only has a phone and a wallet with him, and with no weights dragging him down, he blurs away. Jumping from one tip of the pole to a roof, in a wide city he consider manual travel over vehicular ones. With his speed, he could get to the North City in twenty minutes. But with a light feeling inside him, he got there in five. He checks his phone as he reached the borders between west and north, it’s still early and he doesn’t seem to be exhausted. The next minute and a half, he will reach his own house.

                The North city, themed with gray and mixed color that among all four cities, north is the plainest one yet. Before he was seated as the Northern Royal Guard, the neighbourhood is always in chaos. But after he puts every soldier in his duty a short leash, they were able to maintain order and peace. And in order to do so, he had to eliminate the crime bosses with his bare hands. He reached a small apartment, more than enough to station up to five people. That red brick house is his own home. He bought it with his pay from work. The area seem clean enough for anyone to bear, and the garbage cans were already dealt with.

Normally, Royal Guards have high pay, enough to make a luxurious living. And with Rance’s feat, he should be living in heaven, but he disregarded that possibility and took up the average level of living; living it easy isn’t his type to bear with. Most of his pay goes to the City renovation and donation for the needy, while a sufficient is what he accepts for him to manage daily meals and personal cleanliness. All the efforts he put up to make North City a bearable one had come to fruition, and it will be meeting up to the normal standards soon. Entering the front door, he flips the switch at the side of the doorway, reveals his house internal. A living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms. They’re all plain, but down the basement is his wide area training room, with its own armory. Just as he closes the door, someone had pressed the doorbell. He takes up a baseball bat from the umbrella rack, and as he opens the door he was greeted by the movers.

                “Rance Vor, is it? The King has gave his permission to…” the man in a suit had given a short introduction, but Rance prefer it to be shorter than that. “Yeah, go on right ahead.” Three more guys had went to approach and entered his home, although they seem to be trusted, the last one was blocked off by the warrior. “Haven’t I seen you before?” he asked, and through that intimidating pressure that was resonating around Rance, he fled. Rance walks out and grabs an empty can on the sidewalk, and then throws it at the guy. For about a ten feet distance, it was a headshot and the guy is just seeing stars before falling onto the sidewalk. Rance then turn towards the other movers, who were staring from the front doorway. It looks like he still needs to keep an eye on them as well. At the back of his mind, he asked himself. Back at the hospital, how many de ja vus did he just felt?

                The first one was when King Farlon successfully landed a blow towards the two monsters, the second one was when Asriel answered wrong, and the King decapitated him on the spot, the third one was when he couldn’t control himself and threw a wild punch, which lead the king to an unnecessary coma, and then the last three, when Sans killed him three times, while five times did he felt the King’s blade, along with Sans. If it weren’t for his quick thinking and the Princess', he wouldn’t have lived to see another day. But then again, did Flowey just saved him or was it Asriel? “Must be the princess… Whatever…” he said to himself, while leaning on the wall.

                From a distance, while Frisk reads her book, she sneezed so loud, that from the other room the two boys shouted “Bless you!” What was that all about? She asked herself. She then smiled to herself and whispered, 'you are welcome, Rance.' 

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone have guessed what Frisk did for them? I'll be working on the extras for a while, all while my dad has my table piled with more of his 'tasks'. Also, found that easter egg reference? I can only think of one. Find too many, and you're on a roll, yourself. I'll give you a hint. **The welcoming line**


	14. Trial by Fire - Trouble at the Pier! (part one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here with some things to say. The chapters are getting longer, due to details mentioned as well as Humans x Monsters complications. The fact that it doesn't just revolve around Frisk anymore, but also to the major characters, minor characters, and the own characters. ( **I'm not going to give EVERYONE a side story. This isn't One Piece! *shrugs*** ) And just a recap... It mostly revolves around **Asriel/Chara, Frisk, and Rance Vor**. Think of it as Chrono Trigger, hehe. That's how I base it, which is why the story is somewhat long. Even though it's not ~~like~~ a novel.

                Three nights ago, an unknown phenomenon had occurred where the quarter moon went red, and a number of people had a vivid nightmare. Frisk is one of them, and because of that she wanted to be away from everyone else, including Asriel. King Farlon respected her wishes and gave the warrior a [weekend off](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6910705/chapters/17183365), just when he was temporarily relieved from his duty as the Northern Royal Guard to become the princess’ bodyguard.

The day after he was given an off-duty, he returns to the castle with a small armored child. He’s wearing a standard iron plate attachment from chest to lower leg, while wearing some form of light gloves and shoes that are somewhat bigger than usual. From the inner armor, it could be shown a regular yellow striped shirt and brown leggings; this kid must be a trainee, and what makes it more unusual is that the kid has a helmet that is rather bulky for him. A trainee with a helmet that is similar to that of a samurai’s, while carrying twin short swords with an unknown crest, that contrast in color: onyx and silver.

                They entered the North Gate City, his assigned location instead of the West Gate City so that he could also see the progress of the district he’s been safekeeping. The process of giving special grant to a guest to even take a step foot to the King’s household took him an hour, as well as some briefing. It took that long because there were several concerns about the kid’s background and why he wouldn’t take off his helmet. Rance had to gloss it out however he could, until they were convinced that the trainee is a special case. The terms and conditions were given and agreed to, and the warrior with his trainee is finally given a pass. As expected, even though he was the Northern Royal Guard, the guards he assigned to didn’t cut him any slack.

                The North City, the plainest yet order city among the four parts of the Human Capital. Buildings are mixed in color of gray, silver and plain concrete white; most of the residential buildings are two to five stories. Corporate buildings are like towers reaching from nine to twenty stories. Unlike West City where shopping districts, hospitals or even schools are stationed, North City features entertainment industries, trade centers and law enforcement training. Because North City’s near the ocean borders, it has its own pier that station warehouses for cargo transport, and even an amusement pier.

As the two pass by, they see most of the people are living the usual life without any bad distractions. Not a single delinquent, poor, or even a solicitor could be spotted as they progress. It was about to bore the trainee since there’s nothing much going on as they pass, but he became curious when they crossed the street passing by a theater-size building with several flashy machines light up as children participate on them. An arcade house full of games and prizes that most young ones would want to go in. It might have taken Dreas’ interest, but Rance pulled him away before he became determined to try it.

                An hour of walk and pull from the distractions the warrior’s city offers, they finally reached the North Gate to Frisk’s castle. The two entered the household, and to their perspectives it is still clean as it was before.  They went up to Frisk’s room, and from there it looks like Sans was there keeping the princess pre-occupied with grade-school science books. It looks like she’s fine now, but how did the skeleton get into her room? The trainee and warrior weren’t surprised, as Frisk and Sans turned their attention to the two.

                “hey, if you’re wondering how the skeleton got in here? well.” He points at the closet, and the trainee seem to get the joke when he puts his hand on the helmet’s brace as he chuckles. “Huh, Rance? I thought my father gave you a weekend off?” Frisk asks in question. It looks like she’s back to her usual self, and the two seems to be glad. “I still am, but I want to check on you just in case. Also, I brought you a friend who’s worried sick about you.” He replies as he excitedly pushes forward his trainee. Rance closes the door so that no one else would see what he’s up to.

                Frisk couldn’t tell who the armored kid is, and no one else seems to pop up into her mind at first. Knowing MK doesn’t have arms to begin with, and Asriel went missing after Rance left the castle. That thought crossed her mind and points at him, “Is that you, Asriel?” The armored kid shook his head and replied, “My name is Dreas Liem, your best friend.” He gives an obvious vibe and Frisk went closer to inspect him. Dreas looks at Frisk in the eyes, and soon he chuckles. He takes off his helmet and revealed his true face. “Howdy, Frisk!” Asriel gives a cheerful greeting, and from the other door MK bursts out of the door in rush.

Without warning, the armless monster whips his tail unto the goat monster’s face knocking him to the floor. The helmet he had was thrown in the air, and before it could land on the bed, Sans used his ability to halt it in mid-air. “DUDE, YOU LEFT ME ALONE WITH FRISK!” he was infuriated that his whole face was in red. Frisk helps her friend in armor up in concern, “Are you okay?” she lends a hand while it seems that he’s in pain. The moment Asriel stands up, his whole body aches as he starts to stagger, almost collapsing to the floor again. MK’s anger immediately disappeared as he apologizes, “Woah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.”

                Rance then helps the young monster remove his armor attachments and had them dangle on his shoulders and arms, while his two short swords were put on Frisk’s table; the moment he was done revealed a lot of red bruises all over the trainee’s body. The other two young ones flinched when they saw them. “I’ll help you get to bed. You rest up for a while, okay?” Rance carries him up with both hands while the goat monster makes an aching sound. The warrior must’ve went overboard when he trained him.

                 Asriel withheld the pain he took long enough to react later on. “Ack! I’ll be fine… Ow, ow ow!” The young monster pinched his eyes close as he rolls into a fetus position on the warrior’s arms. Rance goes to the other room and slowly places him down on the bed. “Rance, what happened to Asriel?” Frisk asks in concern with MK, while Sans sat idly on Frisk’s bed without a care in the world.

                “We went to train a while ago, and I might have gone overboard.” The look on his face is rather neutral; it shows that he’s not that concerned with what happened to the other at all. Asriel looks up at them and said, “Don’t worry about me… He trained me to become—ahh!” it looks like his left shoulder made a pulsating reaction as his right hand grabs it. “I’ll go get some bandages and tiger balm.” He said without looking at the others, he left the room in a hurry and went to ask some of the maids where he could get them.

                “Asriel, what did he do to you?” Frisk asks him seriously. He shifts his head to the side to see Frisk and answered, “He saw that I was… hesitating a lot. So, he trained me to become… Stronger.” He carefully said. At first when he entered the room, he didn’t even show any signs of pain. But now, it looks like he won’t be standing up for a couple of days. MK and Frisk sat on each side of the bed while Asriel tells his story. It didn’t take long before Rance arrives with a red medical suitcase, and a friend. “So, who’s our patient for the day?” Bianca Mercy on her nurse suit arrives on the scene. Did Rance just went from the castle to the West City Hospital back here district to pick her up?

                “Oh my, Rancy!” she slaps the warrior’s shoulder and stomps her foot to the floor. “What did I tell you about training people? And look at this!” she was rather furious that her patient is a monster. It didn’t take long before she grabbed a pair of scissors and snips off the shirt. It would hurt the patient if she pulled it off, and a shirt isn’t expensive to replace. Asriel’s top reveals a number of aches and bruises, and the bottom part isn’t revealed yet. “Everyone, get out now!” Bianca orders everyone to leave them. Frisk and MK ran along to her room, while Rance walked with them with his arms crossed. The three who just went out lean towards the door and listen to what’s going to happen.

                Sans chuckles a little as the three line up to listen. He shoves them away from the door with his magic without causing any impact and gave his word: “better not mess around, kids. unless you have a bone to pick with em.” Rance realized something unusual. Sans is in her room, with some books related to science, while Frisk does her homework papers. He thought that it would mean Sans is currently her science tutor. “Hey, Sans. Were you—“ the warrior was going to ask while dropping his hands down. “admitted as my bud’s tutor? yep, you can go home now.” The skeleton didn’t even hesitate as he gives a gesture in forcing the warrior to leave the room. That provoked Rance.

                “Prove it.” He tilts his head down in doubt while he glares at the skeleton with a murderous intent. Sans threw his phone towards the warrior, while the warrior caught it with no problems. He looks at the phone’s screen, revealing a familiar e-mail and the message in it:

                “Good evening, Sans. This is the West City University’s Scholar of Tutors, Dunkelheit. In reviewing your test sheet, the results show that you have a great potential in teaching students with your knowledge about the basics to the advance level of Space Science, Quantum Physics and Mathematical Science. Your certificate and proof that you have passed the examination will be available on Monday. Please bring your valid ID in claiming your certificate, as it proves that you are certified to teach in that field.”

                There were contact details of the professor who had personally given him that regard, as well as the detailed address of where he could claim his certificate. In what Rance can recall, King Farlon gave Sans a test sheet to answer on, as he hands the paper immediately after answering them back at the hospital. After passing the initial exam, the person taking it will receive an access link to an online exam containing at least 1,000 items for the given course. If Sans received such a prestige from a scholar, then he might have aced the online test without any troubles, and the science course should have about 5,000 items.

                That aside, he throws the phone back to the skeleton, admitting that Sans is better in terms of wits. “Even if you become her tutor, I’ll still fulfil my role as her bodyguard.” Rance gives his side and Frisk can sense sparks between the two. They both had a competitive look in their eyes/sockets, while both had the expression ‘ **I don’t trust you at all** ’. MK was pre-occupied looking [the swords Asriel brought back from his training](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6910705/chapters/17335642).

                Rance and Sans switched their attention to the weapons at hand, all while the armless monster is in awe while taking a look at the decoration. Frisk grab hold of the silver short sword, and tries to swing with it. Sans wave his left hand to use his powers in trying to grab hold of the weapon, but it didn’t work. He tries again, and the child stops swinging for a bit, looking at the skeleton in question. An image flashed in Sans’ head, revealing a dusty scene of her taking everyone’s lives with a knife.

                The vision disappeared as Frisk lets go of the weapon and puts it back on her table. What Sans just saw was the unwanted Genocide Route of Frisk, but that never happened in this timeline. Why did it trigger? “Hey, Astronaut. Stop spacing out like a dead man in zero gravity and get back to Earth already!” Rance gives a bad joke to a comedian who is known for bad puns; in Sans’ mind, he’s both impressed and insulted.

                “maybe i should send you to orbit while my mind floats.” Sans snaps a comeback, and the tension seems to be rising between them. Frisk is forced to throw her pillows unto the two to at least stop the fight from happening. MK watches the three, feeling like a leftover who can’t relate to anything. It only took a few seconds for Sans to change moods as he turns his head towards the armless monster. “hey kid, your parents are bone-tired of looking for you. you should go home now before they crack a skull.” That was a rather dark pun suggestion from him.

                MK doesn’t want to mind at first, but as soon as he realized that he’s been away for about a week now he felt the guilt that Sans was trying to imply to him. “hey frisk. be sure to read page 3, i’ll give you a homeroom work tomorrow relating to our lecture a while ago.” Sans gives a cheerful tone, while his grin doesn’t seem to change. Frisk nods as Sans approaches the armless monster. “i’ll see you tomorrow.” With a snap of a finger, MK and Sans disappeared. The day went by, as the warrior stayed in his quarters, polishing the armor attachments he gave to the trainee monster. Bianca notifies Frisk that Asriel will be bedridden for a few days before leaving the castle.

* * *

 

                Monday, the start of class for Frisk at the first floor library as two tutors gave her some time to spend. Rance in his casual wear and Sans starts off with giving Frisk a choice which one she should learn first, but ends up with both of them clashing a lot during the first session whether what subject the princess prefers, almost resulting to a catastrophe. Rance had to give space for the skeleton to have his curriculum filled up for her, and after two hours he takes over. Science may have its advantages, but Frisk needs to learn other things that aren’t complicated for her. Arts is really easy to teach, as well as physical education; Sans had a lot to comment nearly provoking the warrior to another round of clash, and Frisk has to do something to stop the fight from escalating.

                The maids and butlers who happen to have a cleaning shift at the library during class had freaked out for seeing a skeleton walk and talk, or at least read a book and teach like a normal person. “This is Sans. He took care of Frisk from harm’s way when she went to Mt. Ebott.” The King enters the room to inspect the class; it still bothers them that a monster is giving a lecture about basics of science. What gives everyone else a cold shiver through their spine is when he tries to flirt with one of the maids by clicking his teeth and pointing both fingers toward one of the cleaning maids while the warrior was giving his lecture about abstract arts. Rance noticed what the skeleton was doing and interrupted him from escalating the issue, but it almost started another clash. The two can’t seem to get along at all. Morning ends with a problematic start, yet the two were able to deliver their lessons well.

                Frisk’s private homeroom class is only half day since there are only four subjects taught to her. If there are more than four, then it would be a full day of class, just like most school days would have. After lunch, Sans goes back to the library browsing through the archive of books. It was like a heaven of knowledge for him to drift away while reading a book, but it had to end as his phone rings, summoning him back to the Monster Capital. “hey frisk, don’t forget to read page 21 for tomorrow. also do the activity on page 15 and 16 and write your essays on paper. you have a book full here, so it shouldn’t be hard for you to research them.” He turns to look at her with a slack grin. “Isn’t that a bit too much for a 10-year old to take?” Rance gives his suggestion. “she can do it, but can you?” Sans replies with another provoking question.

                “well, duty calls. if you need me, give me a ring and i’ll head back to see you.” Out of nowhere, three iron rings that are just about the size of his hands came out of his sweater sleeves. He gives a bad pun that should be at least funny, but it left the warrior a cold feeling. “Yeah, maybe you should put your rings back before another one of the maids gain a comatose from your puns.” Rance replies a jest, but it only made the whole room quiet for a minute just to process what he just said. Even a guard, who happens to enter the library was struck silent for the warrior’s choice of words.

                Sans disappears just before the guard approaches the remaining two with a bow, “Your Highness. King Farlon summons you to the garden.” The guard conveys, and Frisk covers her face in embarrassment. She hates it when people bow in front of her, but at least Sans wasn’t there to see it. The garden is just at the back of the library, and from the tall window they could see King Farlon sitting with King Asgore and Papyrus having a cup of tea and a plate of muffins in the middle, where they are surrounded with beautiful plants and flowers. They might be discussing something, and in all obvious cases Papyrus is just there silent. Knowing their previous encounters, King Farlon hates Papyrus’ voice.

                Frisk and Rance heads for the garden, and to their arrival the two Kings are just about done discussing something, while a maid pours them their tea. Rance glanced at the maid, and judging from her movements she’s about to flip out. That very maid was the same one Sans flirted, and seeing Papyrus just made things worse. When the skeleton turns to see Frisk and Rance, he suddenly bursts up and greet them loud with a wave of his hand. “GREETINGS, PRINCESS FRISK AND RANCE. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM HUMBLED TO BE INVITED TO—“ King Asgore shoves a muffin unto the talking skeleton’s mouth, while King Farlon, who was just grinding his teeth in irritation gives his thanks. The maid takes a bow before turning away and walking back to the castle, she walks while her arms tremble from the skeleton’s migraine-inducing voice.

                It would be safe to question why King Farlon trusts these monsters, but if he hears them complain it’s curtains for them. It took a while before Frisk’s father was able to regain composure, while Asgore apologizes for Papyrus talking. “Frisk, since you’re finished with your private lessons, have Rance guide you around the North City. Also, bring him along.” He’s referring to Papyrus, since he can’t talk in the presence of the two Kings. It’s also questionable why King Asgore brought him instead of Toriel, but he didn’t voice out any reasons regarding that matter.

                In exiting the castle, the King’s car and his private driver takes a bow towards the princess. Again, Frisk is internally screaming her lungs out as she blushes in embarrassment. Rance looks away with his arms crossed, and then she asks, “What’s wrong?” the warrior answers Frisk’s curiosity with a nervous and irritated expression on his face. “I… don’t like riding in cars. It just feels unnatural for me.” Papyrus then gives Rance a pat in the back, encouraging him to bear it. Out of consideration, Frisk suggest “Maybe we’ll just commute for today. I feel like walking for this afternoon.” But Papyrus disagrees. “HUMAN, YOU, A PRINCESS MUST USE A PRIVATE TRANSPORTATION IN ORDER TO ENSURE SAFETY.”

                The skeleton raises his hand up while the other is at the side of his hip costume. “IT MAY NOT LOOK LIKE YOU’RE NOT IN DANGER, BUT YOU STILL NEED PROTECTION. NO BUTTS!” Frisk and Rance looked at one another when Papyrus mades a point, and then laughs with their heads held high and mouths gaping. “Wow, Papyrus. You really made a point there!” the warrior approves while wiping off a tear from his eye. Frisk never expected that either, while she holds her stomach trying to get some air. “Thanks for reminding me that I shouldn’t be spoiling the princess.” Rance’s commend seems to have made the skeleton curious, but instead he puts up a pose with glory and pride. “DEAR HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM HUMBLED THAT I ASSIST YOU IN RECALLING YOUR ROLE.” Pose aside, he seems to be excited in riding a Bentley State Limousine customized.

                Frisk is concerned for her bodyguard’s welfare, as she was informed that he doesn’t do well with vehicle transportation. Rance gets the idea that she knows that, and in response to that he gives a cheerful grin and said to them “Not to worry, Frisk, I’ll manage!” he proceeds to rub his hand over her hair, almost making a mess out of it. The guards and the driver aren’t exactly happy about what he did, but they can’t do anything about with her letting him do as he please. They rode the car and went to the North City.

* * *

 

                As a standard protocol, if the King is not with Frisk even if she had Rance for a bodyguard, any guard who is assigned in the household must accompany them while they travel. Up front, there’s the driver and a guard, while at the back there’s Rance at the left, Frisk in the middle, and Papyrus at the right side. They go through places, and Frisk gets to see a lot of things that might interest her. The warrior is making sure that his guard is up at all times, while looking at the view and the princess; it is his city and it would tarnish his reputation if any trouble were to happen, even if he is temporarily relieved of his duty.

                Papyrus’ mouth gapes wide like a child, while Frisk is with him on the right side. Arcade buildings, movie theaters, and other entertainment venues made both their eyes glimmer. Banks and even public training venues that were passed gave Papyrus a thought that one day, he will become the Great Papyrus he imagines to be. He is great, but after seeing Rance’s skills as well as his somewhat strict role, he thinks that he has much to learn. Frisk smiles as she sees her friend gain confidence. While they browse all over, with no real destination in the city, the warrior had an idea that might make things fun for them. “Sir, take us to North City Amusement Pier.” With that, the driver does a sharp turn before the traffic lights went red, and changed his destination to Rance’s suggested place.

                Up at the north eastern part of the city, just by several blocks before going downhill everyone could see the vast ocean, while a yacht could be seen going further. Before that, they could see roller coaster ride, a big Ferris Wheel and several warehouse buildings. That must be the North City Amusement Pier that Rance mentioned, and as ridiculous as it might look, it’s like a park mixed with the cargo. There are small tents that offer mini-games, while at the side just before the wooden docks, there was an open space that could be used for more warehouses. “But because the East City had plenty of that, the King decided that there should be an amusement park there. That’s what the King suggested.” Rance explains as they grow closer to the destination.

                This will be Frisk’s first time going to an Amusement Park and a Warehouse Pier, while Papyrus eye sockets magically had eye balls coming out of it. The excitement is making the two feel restless, as the guard and warrior are pleased to see her smile in excitement. As soon as they found an empty parking space and parked there, Frisk and Papyrus immediately opened the door and came running towards the sky blue entrance arc of the Pier, ignoring the ticket booth with a blue fish wearing a white jetpack at the side. But before they could even take a step to the line, they suddenly appeared right before the vehicle they just exited on. Frisk felt a grip just at the back of her shirt’s collar, and as soon as she looks back with Papyrus, they saw Rance holding them up. “I know both of you are excited, but please wait for your escorts.” Rance gives a serious glare at both of them, which made Frisk scared of him.

                The warrior smiles again as if what he just did never happened, “Now, then. Please follow me as we get our tickets.” They walk with him, while the guard stays in the car; he also felt the frightening threat coming from Rance and decides to wait with the driver. At the back of his mind, he thought ‘wow, in a blink of an eye he just pulled the two back like magic. I better not mess with him, or I might get a taste of the Shukuchi.’ At the counter, the clerk gives him five tickets with corona icon stumps in the middle to Rance. “Thank you for coming, and have fun with our latest attractions!” her greeting is pleasant, and Rance nods to her before turning back to the two. Everyone around them couldn’t tell what to react since the former Royal Guard is accompanying the Princess, and a skeleton monster. But because of his presence, they don’t feel any threat at all.

                Frisk’s bodyguard doesn’t have a weapon with him at the moment, and in the attraction pier no one is allowed to bring any dangerous items with them, including personnel with special clearances. It might make things complicated, as he could only do his job better with one. That aside, they were about to take a step in the premises while the princess and the skeleton were excited to take the first ride. “Hold it right there!” Someone at the back stops the three from advancing, and the crowd who were getting their tickets, or were just passing by the streets took their attention to that person.

                Rance turns around with Papyrus, while Frisk hides behind her bodyguard before taking a look at the person calling them out. It was a guy that is almost as tall as Rance; he is fairly tanned, with green short hair and orange iris. He wears a white shirt that has a black skull icon and a red jacket with silver side plates just below his shoulders and upper arm level. He also wears brown leggings and non-tied leather shoes. His smug facial expression suggests that he’s some kind of punk who is going to cause some trouble, and to make matters worse he’s holding a pike spear in public.

                “Your name is Rance Vor, the Royal Guard of the North?” the man with a weapon asks out loud, while the warrior responds with only an intimidating glare and a frown. The man who just called him puts up a wide arrogant grin and readies his weapon. “My name is Lugina Mercy, and I challenge you to a duel for the position of **Royal Guard of the North!** ” a commotion starts with people looking at one another, making either doubtful remarks or just a concerned look. Frisk looks up to Rance, thinking that he’s at a disadvantage, while Papyrus’ lower jaw drops open in shock. Is the position claimable by winning against a duel with the former? The warrior takes a step forward, slightly away from Frisk and nods in silence. Lugina, the challenger charges with a battle cry as he readies to lunge his pike at him. It was an amateur’s mistake.

                At that moment, Rance Vor blurs away and appeared just below the challenger. The attacker didn’t even get a chance to react to the former’s immediate appearance, as he palm-strikes Lugina to his chin upwards. The hit sent him flying as he lets go of his weapon, but before he could even extend a foot further from Rance’s height, he pulls the challenger’s leg with his left hand and slams him down to the pavement street. The impact was strong but not fatal, and by glance it is obvious that Lugina is down for the count. It even looked like he lost a tooth as he spits out blood. Rance dusted his hands a bit without looking away from his challenger. “That’s one, Lugina. You have two more attempts to challenge me. Lose to me again, and your clearance to challenge me will be considered void.” The tone of his voice are too low, almost threatening, while the crowd looked terrified when they saw how fast Rance really is. The crowd know the former Royal Guard personally, since he’s a one-man army who swept the syndicate away while his men cleans up the mess, putting order in its rightful place.

                In an instant, an ambulance arrives on the scene as if they knew what would happen. To the three’s surprise, Bianca Mercy comes out with two other medics in the vehicle. They immediately transported the incapacitated challenger to the ambulance. Bianca approaches Rance and bows in apology, “I’m sorry my brother suddenly went to challenge you. He thinks that he could beat you in a minute.” She straightens her posture to look at him, and the warrior responds with a big grin. “Tell him to survive me first in that minute before he tries to make another move.” The two are conversing as if it’s a normal thing, and it makes the spectators wonder if he’s sane or what. Frisk and Papyrus on the other hand pulls Rance’s hand to the amusement Pier as if they couldn’t wait any longer. They pull him while the Rance and Bianca wave goodbye for now.

                They’re in the Amusement Pier, and they see a lot of booths. Toss the rings, shoot to win, strongman contest, dump the skeleton to a pool of piranha, and even a basketball shoot. Just before going further from the booths, there are some snacks stand near the exit way, while a clock post can be spotted next to an ice cream stand. On the left are where the booths and rides are, along with some warehouses, while on the middle pier is where people come and go. There are also some benches just near the edge of the pier, facing the ocean. Of course, there are some light posts on the edge, with chains to prevent anyone from falling to the deep waters. Those aside, they went to take up the Roller Coaster ride. Paying one ticket allows the person to invite up to three people for one ride. Rance didn’t join them, and instead he jumps unto a building’s roof and watch over the two as they ride in excitement; he considers the ride a vehicle transportation and he hates it.

                Next attraction they went to was a Haunted warehouse filled with ghosts, skeletons, and even demonic figures. Frisk and Rance didn’t flinch as they walk through the maze full of probably scary figures, while Papyrus trembles whenever he sees another group of people who is also wandering in the maze, thinking that they’re the scary attraction. He got separated once and made himself lost, wandering alone in a puzzle he couldn’t solve. To the skeleton’s scream towards the other people made them run away in fear; the Haunted Warehouse became more popular in a short period of time, since they thought that Papyrus was part of the attraction. The two had to look for him and drag him out before the manager finds the screaming skeleton and makes him a permanent prop.

                The next one was a Strongman challenge suggested by Frisk, a booth where you hit your large rubber mallet to a large button on the machine as hard as possible, and it will compute how strong you are. There’s a large variety of life-size dolls for prizes, which makes it look like it’s worth playing, but the cheap thing about it is that the weapon is too soft to score a win. The person in charge of the booth looks like a fisherman from a foreign country. He’s a bit taller than Rance, while his stomach is bigger, with black semi-bald hair. He wears a white shirt with a sapphire blue long apron extending to his lower knee. His pants are seaweed green and he wears a pair of wooden sandals. They pay one ticket to give it a go, regardless of the cheap trick, the group can have five attempts. Papyrus went first, and to his strength the results tell that he’s “ **Not bad, but not good either.** ” He stomps his foot repeatedly in response to the automated voice coming from the strongman machine.

                Next up was Rance Vor; the guy managing the booth had a bad feeling about it. He gathers up his strength, and in an instant his unique swing demolished the machine itself, as if a muscle man pounded the car’s hood like it was nothing. “Oh no, my machine!” the manager cries as while the machine sends out flying sparks, and in response to that, Rance took out his wallet and handed five thousand dollars to pay for the damage he ‘unintentionally’ caused. The manager of the game accepts his apology and compensation, as he gives his rubber mallet to him as a token. For the prize, Frisk receives a special one: A life-size doll that looks like Asriel doll in Asgore’s attire. “Uhhhhhhh.” The two couldn’t put up any words to say, and Papyrus just gave off a confused Nyeh since he doesn’t seem to get the point.

                “Hehe, the doll is supposed to look like **King Asgore** , but the hair design and the crown cloth ruins the stitching. So I just went and put these babies up.” The guy suggests with a smile that it was handmade, and the two turns around looking nervously. Papyrus gives the guy thanks on their behalf as they start to walk away from the booth. The doll is just about Asriel’s size, and this could serve as a body double for him. Next up was the Ferris Wheel near the Warehouse Docks. The wheel is just big and tall as a five-story building with about twenty gondolas attached to the machine; and each gondola are big enough to carry up to six people, three in each side. They paid one ticket, and let the wheel slowly spin them up. Frisk is completely afraid of heights, but that didn’t stop Rance from comforting her.

“Don’t worry, Frisk. If the gondola falls, I can safely get both of you out.” That didn’t help at all, which made her cry unto Papyrus’ shoulders. In reality, he doesn’t like Ferris Wheels either. “Why did we take this ride again?” As soon as their passenger pod reach the highest part, they all looked outside. From there, they could see most of the North City, and on the other side they could see the vast blue ocean. It refreshes them to see a lot of things from the peak of the Ferris Wheel, as long as they don’t look down. The three are in awe, as the Sun looks like it’s about to set down from the east side.

                The Ferris Wheel starts to spin again slowly, which made the feeling of awe into a feeling of surprise. The panic with the two humans made the gondola shake. Papyrus had enough of it, and used his magic to stabilize ride from shaking any further. Frisk tries to breathe in slowly, while Rance forces both hands against the side. A moment later, they all laughed at their reaction. “WHO KNEW YOU WERE AFRAID OF BEING IN THIS RIDE?” Papyrus laughs it off, while Rance admits that it is one of his weakness.

                They got out of the gondola safely, but Frisk was shaking in fear. It looks like she won’t ever ride the Ferris Wheel, ever. As for Rance, he sits to Frisk’s level and put both hands on her shoulders, and looked her in the eyes. Frisk nods once, understanding that Rance also had fear in his eyes. He stands up and stretched his back a bit. “Let’s find another ride, or a booth to play before it gets dark.” He suggests, while Papyrus agrees with a thumbs up. Frisk held both Rance and Papyrus’ hand as they proceed to walk away.

* * *

 

                Behind a warehouse, two shady characters were stalking on the Princess from a distance. They also see a skeleton and the former Royal Guard with her, and in their assumption they might be her bodyguards. One of the eavesdroppers is about 200cm tall, and judging from his attire perfectly fitting him, he probably has a bulky build. His face is hidden with a large yellow hoodie sweater, as he puts his hands on his red legging’s pockets. He doesn’t have any shoes, exposing what seems to be yellow furry feet with sharp nails. His tail is also out, and from anyone’s view, he’s a Lion Beastman monster.

                The other eavesdropper is a lot shorter than the other, and this time he’s human. He’s just about as tall as Bianca; he is fairly tanned skin color, light blue eyes and has jet black hair with hair spiking up like flames. He also has gold goggles just above his forehead, with a long red scarf wrapped around his neck dropping on his back, while his ears are covered with green headphones. His attires are dark green overcoat, with a red inner shirt, and dark green and brown pants. He’s also equipped with yellow-green metal gauntlets with yellow-green greaves. The two stalkers look like they’re determine to do something reckless, as their eyes glow with malicious intent on Frisk.

* * *

 

                Meanwhile, Rance is buying them some ice cream from an ice cream stand. Papyrus and Frisk wants to eat chocolate-flavored ice cream, while Rance gets himself a vanilla-flavored one. They took a seat on an empty bench just next to the docks where the body of water is their scenery, while they eat their desserts. Frisk still has that special doll with her, as Papyrus helps her carry it; Rance has that rubber mallet behind him, serving as a substitute weapon. Where they sit is near the exit of the Amusement Pier, and from there they could see their vehicle from a distance. The warrior is looking around restlessly, ensuring that the area around them is safe. Where they’re facing right now is the ocean with a good reflection, and before they could finish what they’re eating, the clock post just next to the ice cream stand hits at 6:00PM; the pier lights are being switched on as the upcoming darkness is illuminated with the lights around them. The North City Amusement Pier becomes a festival of lights.

                Rance stands up from his seat and turns his attention towards the two, “Let’s go home.” He suggests. Frisk looks down on her ice cream, and took a deep breath before sighing out loud. “Don’t be like that, Frisk. We could visit again some other day, if your Father allows it.” Rance gives a concerned look towards her. “NEXT TIME, LET’S HAVE LOTS OF FUN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE HAPPY TO TAG ALONG AGAIN… MAYBE NEXT TIME, WE SHOULD INVITE SANS.” Papyrus is as cheerful as always, and his suggestion didn’t give the warrior the same good vibe. “I think he’s been busy being your King’s sentry or something.” Papyrus stands up from his seat, and shakes a finger sideward on the warrior in disagreement. “YOU MEAN MY LAZY BROTHER?” that didn’t sound right for Rance. A breeze of wind blew towards them, while the moon slowly rises up nearly forming from a quarter to a half.

                The lights around them went dim for a while, before the two could react Frisk is missing. Rance and Papyrus started looking around them. The crowd walking around, people playing the games in some booths, and then there is that one person in a yellow hoodie seems to be unusually big and tall, who is making a run for it with his lion tail whipping around. The person seems to be carrying something, like a child. “Papyrus, follow me!” he didn’t hesitate to give out orders before running towards that person. The skeleton follows with a dash, while he carries the Dreemurr doll with him. The warrior didn’t run as fast as he should, since where they’re going will be a wide wooden docks. His footwork also has an impact that could harm the people around him, so he’s left no other choice but to run normally.

                “Stop right there!” Rance shouts, while avoiding groups of people who are going his way. “YOU THERE, HALT!” Papyrus follows, while he bumps into a couple. “SORRY!” he goes to the side and continued his pursuit. They just went past the Strongman booth, which is near the warehouse docks. There was a construction blockade on where the runner went. There, a person is sitting, waiting on the edge of the wooden docks. While the other joins up with him. Papyrus and Rance finally made it to where that monster leads them, and judging from the area, the warrior is at a disadvantage.

                The wooden dock is slightly far from the concrete Pier, and from where they are, there won’t be anyone to interfere. There are three metal lamp posts on the left and right side, and the area is wide enough for anyone to engage in a battle. The runner turns around, with Frisk unconscious on his right arm. The person waiting on the edge stood up and faced the skeleton and the warrior. Both of them gives off a bad aura, as if the two are partners in crime.

                Their eyes are glowing with an intent to engage in battle; they’re not someone to underestimate since the big guy was able to nab Frisk without Rance and Papyrus noticing. “What do you want with the princess?!” the warrior asks loud, but the two aren’t responding. Instead, the goggled person gives an evil grin and points a seven-round bronze revolver at him. It looks like there’s going to a fight between the two pairs. Papyrus looks at the two with his eye sockets bursting in green aura. This time, it’s a different ability.

[Seven Gear     Type: Human  Fighting-Style: Range  Job: Trickshooter]

                Papyrus determines the short one’s identity, and then focuses his attention to the big one.

[Giga Lionheart     Type: Monster (Lion Beastman)  Fighting-Style: Melee  Job: Monk]

                “RANCE, THE SHORT ONE’S NAME IS SEVEN GEAR. HE’S A HUMAN TRICKSHOOTER. WHILE THE BIG ONE IS GIGAS LIONHEART, A LIONMAN TANK.” Papyrus gives his analysis; Rance looks at Papyrus and asks, “How did you know?!” the skeleton replies “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHECK ANYONE’S STATISTICS.” The warrior didn’t know that he could do that; with that ability, anyone’s statistics could be easily revealed. Even his own can be exposed by a single glance from the skeleton. That thought aside, he readies his large rubber mallet as a substitute weapon, while Papyrus puts down the doll behind them, before creating a spear-length bone staff into his hand. The large one puts down Frisk behind them carefully, as he removes his hoodie.

` To the warrior’s surprise, Giga’s mane pops out from the hoodie, showing that the person is really a lionman monster. Papyrus the novice skeleton and Rance Vor the former Royal Guard of the North are about to engage a fight with Giga Lionheart the Monk and Seven Gear the Trickshooter. What is their goal? What will happen if they win, what will happen if they lose? The moon rises up, and the first one to start the fight, was the one who just pulled the trigger.

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger? Don't worry, there's always next week. Ahaha-- ouch, no not the face! .... Okay, Bianca, stop worrying! Hey, no needles! 
> 
> Also, how can I miss such a detail? A link feature that can help me connect the dots better! I'll be editing all of the chapters with connections so that readers can navigate better. That's a good progress. Did you guys learn something? Rance Vor may be lightning fast, but he's still a human being with weaknesses... **_Just like everyone else..._**


	15. Trial by Fire - Trouble at the Pier! (part two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here is on the verge of reaching an empty tanks of Determination. I'll try to refill while I have the weekends off. Anyway, here is the awaited chapter of the story, Seed of Flowey.

                Just outside of the North City Amusement Pier, the guard and driver were waiting patiently in their seats. I would be okay for them to tag along, but Rance’s presence made them think twice. The driver is fairly-tanned, black hair with hazelnut color eyes. He is suited in black formal attire with white inner long sleeve shirt, and black shoes that has metal imprints on the stepping. He also wear black leather gloves with metal attachments, acting as combat gloves. This could give a sign that he’s specialized in hand-to-hand combat. While the guard is wearing a blue-theme suit, with metal-gray armor attachments on his chest, knees and ankles, and shoulders. He is also wearing gauntlets and greaves, and a plain head cover helmet that covers his head. The only way you could tell his mood is just by looking at his eyes. The guard stations a gun with a retractable blade on his right holster.

                “It’s 6 o’ clock. They should be getting back, soon.” The driver checks the radio’s digital clock status, indicating the time. The guard on the other hand looks outside; from where they are stationed, they could see the three sitting on a bench near the waters, while several crowds are exiting the pier. “The princess must be taking her time, enjoying the moment she could get outside the household.” The guard who was laying back on his seat adjust it so that the three who will be sitting on the back aren’t hindered. The driver suddenly reacts, exiting the car in a hurry. His companion noticed it and went to look where the princess is sitting. To his surprise, her bodyguard and the skeleton were standing up, looking around restlessly. Frisk is gone, and the two are looking where she could have gone.

                From that moment, the guard exits the vehicle as well and looks at the driver. “ **WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!** Why didn’t anyone see that?” the black-uniformed man exclaims while slamming both clenched fists on the hood of the car. The guard looks at the driver in question as he equips his weapon just in case. “What do mean?” he asks in a serious tone, curious about what the driver was talking about. “When the lights went dim, a  white pale looking bald man in a black robe was behind the princess, and when the lights went back to normal… he disappeared, along with Frisk.” The guard looks back, and noticed that the two were running further in pursuit of a large man in a yellow hoodie sweater.

                “We have to go warn them, the abductor couldn’t have gotten far!” the guard suggests in a hurry as he rushes into the Pier, while the driver goes back to the car and pulls out a handheld transceiver in between the driver and the other seat, contacting the guards to be on high alert for the described kidnapper.

* * *

 

                Meanwhile at the wooden docks, the tension is rising for those who are about to engage in combat. Papyrus confirms to Rance the identity of the two suspects: Seven Gears a human Trickshooter, and Giga Lionheart a Lion man Monk. Behind them is Frisk, who lays near the edge of the docks unconscious, while behind the skeleton and warrior is Frisk’s Asgore doll. The area they’re in is off limits, and there are less likely for civilians to be wandering around a blocked off dock with its own sign, ‘Under maintenance’.

                “YOU TWO, PLEASE SURRENDER THE PRINCESS OF THE HUMAN CAPITAL, AND WE’LL CALL IT A NIGHT. PLEASE?” Papyrus had his bone staff ready, but he wants to give the two a chance to stop the situation from escalating. He’s naïve as Frisk, who believes that violence is not necessary. But for the three, it’s the complete opposite. Seven gives a creepy smile, as his eyes glimmer in light blue and as strange as it is, it gives a malicious feeling. He never dropped his right hand while he points his revolver. The trigger finger is already prepared, and it looks like he’s going to fire at any time. The lights went dim again, and a half-shadow appeared just behind and in-between the two captors. Rance is too focused on the opponents and Frisk, that it slipped past his senses.

                Papyrus was left with no choice but to make [bones cage them](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ7g-RQQYzg). “THIS BRINGS ME BACK WHEN I TRIED TO CAPTURE A HUMAN.” Long spear bones pierce through from the sky, and blocks the gunman from moving. The lion man was too fast, that he was able to escape the attempt. Giga lunges in for a kill with his claws ready to swipe, but Rance charges in from the side towards the monster’s right, and swings his rubber mallet in a full 360 degrees counterclockwise. The hit lands on the lion man’s chest, and because the weapon he has is a rubber prop it sends him back in full impact. Seven crouches down as his partner is sent flying towards him, breaking the bones Papyrus just made to cage the opponent.

                The bones breaking stops the flight extension, as Giga rolled towards the very edge of the dock. It was a close call, but it looks like the opponent wasn’t hurt by the warrior’s attack. He stands up with a threatening snarl, as his gunman partner stands up to take aim. He pulls the trigger towards the middle right lamp post, and it ricochet towards Papyrus’ costume chestplate. He felt the impact as his torso cracks a little, almost making him fall down. Another shot was fired, and this time it was aimed at the middle right lamp post, bouncing towards the furthest left and then towards the nearest right. After that, Papyrus just had to block with his bone staff, and before he knew it his weapon breaks. If he didn’t block, then the bullet would’ve pierced through his forehead part of the skull. “NYEH, HOW ARE YOU EVEN DOING THAT?”

                Rance didn’t like where this is going, since the lion man just recovered and is now ready to make a frontal assault. He can see where the bullets would go, but with no solid weapon, he’s much like a kid in a stick confronting a man with a butcher knife. “Papyrus, remember what you learned yesterday!” He shouts while facing off the Giga. “OKAY, I WILL DO THAT. I WILL MAKE THEM SEE THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN CAPTURE THAT HUMAN, AND MAKE YOU PROUD!” he gives his speech, and before another bullet ricochet and land towards him, he springs up a long and thick bone to his side. The bullet that was supposed to hit him ricochet back towards the shooter. Seven precisely deflects the bullet coming towards him with another bullet; the rebound from the lamp posts to the wooden floorboards of the docks keep on coming. It’s hard to predict where the next one will hit if normal people were to be involved, but it’s a completely different story for the four who are engaged in combat.

                Papyrus continues to block the shots, either with his bones or by swinging his staff playfully back to the shooter. The last one nearly punched a hole into Seven’s forehead in retaliation, but he blocks it with his Revolver’s barrel. It was too close for comfort, and the block he just made pushed his weapon towards himself in impact. The warrior and the lion man are blocking, dodging, and even going toe to toe with one another. The previous shots that were wildly bouncing off were easily evaded by simply stepping back, or adjusting their positions. The fight between the two pairs is unimaginable, as if they’re focus is completely at their opponent, while dodging the stray bullets that were storming around.

* * *

 

                Frisk is starting to wake up, and begins to remember that she suddenly fell unconscious. An image keeps appearing in her head; a familiar scene, a room full of dust, the sun shining towards their faces. It was out of place, or was it a dream? A tall pale man, with a slim face and cracks over and under his eye sockets. The smile that isn’t alive. He reached towards her face with holes in his hands, saying words that doesn’t make sense. Strangely, she understood what he said: “ **The 150 th… It’s time… to go home…**” Fear paralyzes her, yet her Determination is screaming inside her heart, telling her to move immediately. Her eyes open, and her vision finally regains back to normal. She’s laying on the floorboards of the wooden dock, while in front of her is a man she doesn’t recognize. Frisk looks around, and saw that Papyrus is making his bones float, while Rance is swinging his rubber mallet towards the bewildered lion man monster.

                The man in front of her opens up the revolver, and dropped seven empty shells. From Frisk’s angle, she heard seven bullets being loaded, before rotating the cylinder at full speed and locking it in place. He takes another aim, before firing towards Papyrus. She carefully stands up, as if she was drugged; Papyrus and Rance noticed her standing up as both of them called her name in unison. Seven grabs hold of her with his left arm, while he aims his gun with his right. The situation just became worse…. For the attackers. Frisk kicks his stomach and headbutts Seven from behind. It made the gunman breaks his focus, while wildly shooting two stray bullets, that were wildly ricocheting around. In the midst of the confusion, the gunman immediately predicted where it will land and shot another bullet to change the direction.

                Giga attacks Rance ferociously, while forcing the warrior to take a step back. As soon as he saw Seven change the direction of the bullet’s trajectory, he immediately saw where it will be going. The first two will be landing unto Papyrus’ knee joints, while the last two will be landing on his side. Despite that the skeleton learned how to predict enemy movements, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he can predict two consecutive series of bullet rebound, which could blind-side and confuse anyone who follow one too many bullets. Frisk was able to elbow strike Seven’s shoulder, freeing her from his grasp while out of nowhere Rance went to Papyrus’ left side. He takes a step back, before he blurs away. Several foot-size holes are rapidly appearing and approaching the gunman as if someone’s firing a storm of lead from above, while the lion man’s senses are being confused by the loud footsteps and crunching of wood, and splinters flying out to the side.

                It didn’t take long before Frisk realizes that she’s behind Papyrus, while the warrior doesn’t look like he’s in a state to turn his attention to his friends. He’s hiding something, while Papyrus was immediately distracted by red water dripping from the human’s arm. “RANCE, WHAT IS THAT RED WATER DRIPPING?” his tone of voice gives concern, while focusing his attention to the warrior. He was silent; he’s not moving an inch from his position where Frisk and Papyrus wouldn’t know his condition. Giga lunges his attack on Rance, landing a claw swipe on his opponent’s chest. The warrior proud with his ability to fight regardless of the situation was pushed back in an opening, and falls back in a limp.

                The next attack from the lion man is coming, and the gunman still has three bullets remaining. Rance holds his left shoulder with his rubber mallet at hand, while from Frisk’s view, the warrior’s left leg is half numb. The two opponents show a menacing smug, giving the sign of victory. But that assumption is too early, with one more player joining the fight: Frisk herself. She takes a broken wood from the floorboards Rance broke and held it in ready. Rance turns his attention to the princess with a thick stick, and tries to talk. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I don’t think I’ll let anyone die right here.” Her eyes are filled with DETERMINATION, while taking a look at her opponents. She’s not a fighter, but from what she just witnessed, the gunman’s bullets ricochet from the wood. She’ll think of a way to stop the fight, even if it means putting herself in the frontlines with them.

                Papyrus can feel something warm, coming from the child. “FRISK, I WASN’T ABLE TO SHOW YOU MY SPECIAL ATTACK BEFORE. BUT NOW, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, FEEL LIKE I CAN DO IT.” He gives a cheerful feeling, and with that his bone staff is glowing with an orange aura. It looks like he’s charging it in. Frisk gives a thumbs up at the skeleton for a good Go signal. The smile in Seven’s expression changed to a scowl. He fires his remaining loaded ammunition at the skeleton, while Giga dashes from the side in an attempt to recapture Frisk. In a momentum, Rance was watching while he tries to move with his injuries. One step at a time, and his wounds pulsed throughout his body, but that didn’t stop him. The three bullets coming towards Papyrus were blocked by Frisk’s wooden plank in succession, while the charging lion man was hit in the face by Rance’s mallet thrown towards him. It didn’t push him back, but because it distracted him, he was hit in the face with a follow-up flying kick. It happened in a blink of an eye, and before they knew it, Giga was sent into the waters.

                Something trails off as Rance blood drops to the floorboards, kneeling as he held his shoulder wound tight. There’s no mistaking it, he’s bleeding from the gunshot wounds he took from Seven. The gunman unloads the chambers, and Papyrus was about ready to unleash his special attack; but out of nowhere a cute white dog jumps to the scene and snatches the skeleton’s bone staff and back to the pier. Surprisingly, either the dog was strong, or the bone staff was light. The special attack was immediately cancelled, and Papyrus was furious. “OH MY GOD, WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!” he shouts while stomping his foot repeatedly. Seven just finished loading the bullets into his gun, and from here on out, Frisk and Papyrus are the only ones available to engage. Giga, the lion man who just fell into the waters just climbed up from the right side of the docks, growling at his opponents while drenched. As soon as the gunman makes its bullets storm around, ricocheting the whole area, Papyrus summons up two thigh bones in front of him, and deflected the four shots.

                Seven shot three more at the furthest right lamp post, creating dents as the bullets land and bounces off to the others. The bullets that were deflected by Papyrus were redirected by the last three, which makes all seven bouncing off from one place to another. The sound of lead ricocheting all over is confusing Frisk, and before she knew it the two bullets broke her plank, before bouncing off towards Papyrus’ floating thigh bones. One bullet at the time starts to go where it couldn’t ricochet, the waterbed around them. One bullet remains, and it was heading right towards the warrior’s forehead. The two didn’t see it coming, and it was about the end for Rance Vor.

                A chained-blade flew across from one of the lamp posts, and deflected the bullet towards the lower right and hits the ocean bed. They all turned their attention as the blade retracts back to its owner. It was Dianne Vor in her usual red and brown rogue outfit, sitting on top of the lamp post, just at her comrade’s right and far left of where the gunman stands. “Dear brother, you could have pulled away Papyrus instead of…” Rance replies out loud while he bows his head down in humiliation, “My body reacted by itself!” Frisk suddenly remembered her dream of him blocking a chained blade for her in her dreams. It didn’t take long before the guard and driver went rushing in. The two safely escort the wounded warrior away, with Frisk under their protection while Dianne and Papyrus stayed to ensure that the princess’ captors wouldn’t follow. The rogue jumps up high and lands on her feet, just the skeleton’s left.

                “Papyrus, why not escort Frisk to safety?” she asks while both hands are equipped with daggers. On the end of handle, there’s a ring, and a chain attached to it. Her chain is linked to her square-shaped belt pouch on the side of her hips, making it look like it can retract from there. “NYEH? I SHOULD HELP YOU. JUST IN CASE THAT ONE TRIES TO TRAIL OUR FRIEND.” He points at the lion man, who is getting ready to charge. Their sights are focused on Frisk, as the guard carries Rance by the shoulder, while the driver carries the princess while they escape. Giga rushes in for an immediate escape while Seven just finished loading his rounds. “I THINK IT’S TIME FOR THE CAT TO GO BACK INTO THE BAG, NYEH HEH HEH HEH!” he gives a smug impression while snapping his fingers; a large floating ribcage appears just where the lion man was, caging it inside. The lion man furiously claws the trap while making vicious growls, and Dianne looks at Papyrus before snickering. “Hahaha! That’s a bad one, but I like it!” she admits, before focusing her attention to her opponent.

                Dianne blurs away, nearly close to vanishing in thin air. The lion man breaks through the attack, and Papyrus was surprised. “NYEH?!” he hesitates, as Gigas was about to land on the skeleton. Suddenly, out of the darkness, two chained-blades flew from the open space and shackling the lion man’s arms in mid-air. The chains were tied into both left and right middle lamp posts, as two separate square pouches were tied just below the light source of the lamps. Giga struggles with great force, but he couldn’t break free. Those aren’t normal chains, and the lamp posts are durable as well. Seven gives a discontented look fires two rounds at the chains to break them, but throwing daggers were thrown in different directions making a pattern. Before the gunman could react, the two bullets that were supposed to strike the chains went to his left and right thighs.

                The rogue was very cunning in terms of making her own patterns, and manipulating the rebound of each bullet. Not only that, she hasn’t appeared from the shadows yet. She just took down the two with little effort, and all Papyrus could do is open his jaw wide open. Seven falls on his knees, while the pain of having two gunshot wounds land on his thigh forces him to let go of his revolver. He cries out loud while falling to the left side. There’s no way he could run with those injuries, while his partner struggles to get the chains off of him. The more he struggles to pull off the chains, the more he feels like the chains are tearing him apart. The rogue appears in front of the gunman, and with one dagger at hand, it looks like she’s about to land the finishing move. Seven doesn’t seem to show any fear of dying, while his eyes reflect with [intimidation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ7g-RQQYzg).

                Dianne couldn’t move in her place, and from behind her Papyrus walks closer with his right hand raised. It must be his magic that’s stopping her from committing further. “THERE IS NO NEED TO KILL SOMEONE. THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!” without lowering his right hand, he raised his left and snaps his fingers. The chains that were tied unto the lamp posts were removed, and then the pouches started to spin around him, tying up Giga in his place, before slowly falling to the floorboards. “They’re going… to…” Dianne struggles in irritation, and before long the skeleton drops his hand, and slaps the weapon off of her hands. The blade sunk into the water, while her body is forced to fall on her knees.

                “THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY! AS GREAT AS I AM, CAPTURING THEM IS THE BEST WAY.” He smiles, while he takes a pair of handcuffs from the rogue’s belt chain, and cuffed the gunman’s hand. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAVE TO KEEP STANDARDS IN CHECK.” It looks like Dianne couldn’t do anything about it, and just gives off a contented sigh. “I must’ve been blinded by rage there, when I saw my brother’s wounds like that.” Dianne looks down, admitting that she was going in to even out the scores.

                “HUMAN DIANNE.” He puts his hand on her shoulders, and then she looks back to see Papyrus’ kind, yet goofy smile. The skeleton offers a hand, while she gave hers in help of standing up. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAVE FINALLY ACHIEVED MY GOAL: CAPTURING A HUMAN!” he puts up a proud stance, and Dianne drops her shoulders dumbfounded. Papyrus is overjoyed that he finally did something useful, and the rogue made a thought, ‘I thought he was going to tell me that killing people is wrong. Geez, I wasn’t expecting that!’ Papyrus does his pose, but because he doesn’t his brother and Undyne weren’t there, as well as Frisk and Rance, it seems to have become a waste for him. Dianne looks at him in confusion, “Why not just kill them? Kidnapping the princess is punishable by death!”

“WELL, I ALSO HAVE STANDARDS.” he shares while rubbing his finger under his chin. “Hey, I was just pointing out that—“ the rogue reacts due to Papyrus ignoring her statement. Frisk arrives with a cheerful look in her face, as the skeleton opens arms to a hug. “That was amazing, both of you!” she looks at Dianne as well, while hugging Papyrus. “Princess! What are you doing here?!” the rogue asks in confusion, and then her phone rang. She picks it immediately, and then on the other end, Rance spoke weakly. “Frisk….ran off….without us noticing…” just from the other end, the driver and guard are quarreling whose fault was it to let their guard down. “Just bring my brother to the hospital and have him treated!” she gives her command, but as soon as she finished she heard a number of shots while the car sounds like it crashed into a wall.

                The phone just hung up, and left the rogue shock from what she just heard. Frisk drops down from Papyrus’ arms and approached the gunman. Seven is currently sitting up unconscious, while Giga is also sitting up, but continues to struggle free. Just checking, she felt like something wasn’t right about the two and before she knew it. “I had a feeling…” she said to herself. A big seed mark on the right side of his neck; he was being manipulated by Flowey, and maybe so is the other. She rubs the gunman’s neck gently, and her hand glows in red. After the light shines, she removes her hand from her neck and the seed mark is gone.

                “Princess!” Dianne’s sense came back after the shock, and noticed that the princess was acting on her own accord. She pulls her away from probable danger, but Frisk just shook her hand and said, “He won’t be much of a threat anymore.” Frisk immediately run towards the lion man, who is still struggling to go free. In a blink of an eye, the rogue appears in front of her. “It’s too dangerous. The lion monster might hurt you.” Frisk side steps and tags the lion man’s free hand. A light emits from her hand, and Giga’s neck glows. The lion roars up high in pain, and then looks down. Frisk faces Giga with a determined look, and both hands clenched into a fist. The chained monster looks up and towards the child in confusion.

                **“Huh, where am I?”** Gigas asked while he looks around. The lion seems to be confused, he asks the child with a deep voice. **“Who are you, and can you tell me where I am?”** He gives a curious look, and a gentle tone of voice. He must be a calm and gentle type of monster judging from the tone of voice. His tail seems to wag slowly, waiting for an answer. “My name if Frisk, and you’re in the North City Amusement Pier.” She answers normally. The lion man looks around again, and it seems that he finally noticed the flashy lights behind her. He looks down, and had his eyes wide open, along with his mouth. **“What is going on here?! Why am I chained? Tell me what I did wrong?!”** he begs for an answer towards her, and then towards his right Dianne walks in with her eyes focused on Giga. “What you did wrong… is that you and your companion kidnapped the princess. Or did you forget?” she’s giving a cold look with a dagger at hand. The lion is getting nervous from the rogue’s threatening actions, and then he realized something.

 **“Wait, with a companion? Seven. Where’s Seven?”** he asks while he tries to struggle free. From his left, Papyrus is carrying the gunman unconscious, hands cuffed, and thighs bleeding. **“WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON?!”** enraged that his companion is at a hands of a smiling skeleton. “SEVEN IS OKAY, HE IS UNCONSCIOUS DUE TO FATIGUE.” Papyrus already checked his status, which is [Unconscious, Fatigue]. The lion man notices blood dripping downwards; he was losing patience. **“Why is he bleeding?”** he asks while he struggles. Frisk fills in what happened, while Dianne keeps her guard up. Eventually, the city guards arrived in the scene and took away the gunman and the lion man. Dianne informs Giga that the Police Station in the North City has its own medical and surgical rooms, so there wouldn’t be any issue for the health of his partner. But that necessarily mean that they won’t be locked up for what they did.

                Dianne, Frisk, and Papyrus with the prized doll took a taxi and went straight to the West City Hospital, as they were informed by one of the city guards that his brother was delivered there safely. But what was that sound of crash? And for some reason, Frisk’s father hasn’t called her yet. Dianne looks at her phone, and the time indicates that it’s 6:50PM. While they travel, Papyrus looks at his hands, still somewhat drenched in blood. Dianne took off her detachable hoodie and lend it to the skeleton to clean it off. He asks if it’s okay, and the rogue just nods in approval. Frisk was concerned about what happened Rance since he was shot. “WHAT IS THIS RED STUFF, ANYWAY?” he asks curiously while he cleans it off. “You don’t know? That’s blood, a red liquid that inside a living being. It’s one of the things that make us alive.” She answers, and then Papyrus looks down with a concerned look. “SO… DOES THAT MEAN THAT IF HUMANS LOSE BLOOD, THEY WILL…”

                The rogue nods without a word, while Frisk looks out in the window. Something’s not right, and it bothered her. Who was that pale man who just appeared before she opened her eyes? The skeleton was shocked of what he just learned. “IF WE WAITED LONGER… THEN… THEN…“ his hands tremble while the look of concern turns to sadness. He was carrying the gunman for quite some time while Frisk gave her explanation to Giga. Blood just keeps dripping as it happens, and then he recalled that Rance was also bleeding; he took two bullets that went to his arm and leg. He also went to move around while more drips from his wounds.

                Frisk held Papyrus’ hands with hers and calmly said, “Don’t worry, Papyrus. They’ll be okay.” Her warm smile gave the skeleton hope that they will be alright. Papyrus was on the verge of tears, but he decides to smile back in glad. Dianne was watching the skeleton, who was on the verge of despair, brought back with hope on his hands. “Papyrus, you shouldn’t cry. Besides, you’re the one who captured and saved him.” She adds with a melodious tone, the two looked at her in surprise. She continues, “If you weren’t there to stop me, then I might have took someone’s life for the first time. So, thank you.” She looks away, while they couldn’t tell if she was shying away, or was in a different mood. Papyrus’ usual glee returns, “YOU ARE WELCOME, HUMAN. AND YOU ARE RIGHT, IF I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE, THEN YOUR NAME MIGHT HAVE BEEN SULLIED. BUT…” something bothers the skeleton, and his gleeful side went to a pause.

               “I ALSO COMMEND YOUR ASSISTANCE, DIANNE VOR.” He just smiled at the rogue, and she looks back flustered. “D-don’t make me blush…!” she replies with a blush. Something must’ve reminded her, and it just made her look cute. She wouldn’t admit it as they tease her. It was 7:00pm and they arrived in the Hospital halls. A lot of people were backed up in a corner in the waiting area, while Sans was sitting on the other edge, having a can of soda. Frisk and Papyrus paused for a moment, and then they went rushing in towards the shorter skeleton. As if one skeleton was bad enough to make several waiting people go on the edge of the bench, another one arrives on the scene. Papyrus gave Frisk’s doll back while she held onto it. All while the child could tell that the brothers are going to make a scene.

                “Sans, what are you doing here?” Frisk asks, while Papyrus follows up. Dianne went to the counter and asked what room her brother was stationed in. “oh, i was just chillin’ here. waiting on ya.” He winks at the two while raising the can with a cheer. Without a moment loose, Dianne blurs away from the counter, and the clerk falls back from her seat. “SANS, YOU KNOW YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE ALONE. LOOK, YOU’RE SCARING THE LIFE OUT OF EVERYONE!” Papyrus retorts in concern while he extends his right hand towards the group of scared people. “oh pap, you’re starting to pun me. he he he” Frisk giggles a bit, and then Papyrus made eyes bubble out of his sockets as he raised both hands above his chest, frustrated that Sans made another weird pun.

                The scared crowd starts to laugh a little, while fear seems to fade away from the look on their faces. The two continue to put up a comical relief, as the crowd are starting to laugh at the skeleton brothers’ actions. “UGH, OH MY GOD. SANS! JUST TELL ME WHY YOU’RE HERE!” Papyrus asks out loud, and then Sans responds. “oh, i’m just chilling here with the sick people, talking about how skeletons live like humans do. heh, anyway. frisk, your dad is on the 4th floor, room 402, and king fluffybuns is on room 403.” The comical relief just went to a trainwreck, as Sans took a sip, telling them that without fazing.

                The smile on Frisk’s face suddenly faded into shock, dropping her Asgore/Asriel doll and exclaims, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” she ran away towards the elevators, and then Papyrus looks at Sans furiously. “i forgot to mention that tori is also here. she did her job, so they’ll be fine.” He looks down, still grinning before he takes one last sip of the can.

* * *

 

                Frisk arrives on the 4th floor and went to check his father’s. Upon arriving his room, Toriel happens to be sitting next to where King Farlon was laying, feeding the King some home sliced apples with a fork. “Father!” she rushed in and went to jump and hug her father. From his condition, his left chest and shoulder were bandaged, and it seems that the King is doing okay. “I rushed in as soon as he called in for help.” Frisk cries in concern for her father’s welfare, while he comforts her “There, there. My child, if it weren’t for Asgore calling in the queen, then we both wouldn’t have made it.” Frisk looks at her father in shock. “What happened?!”

                Asgore in his hospital gown, came out of his room and went to join the three, while his left leg was cast. “There were some humans, who were trying to assassinate your father… But thank the gods that we were able to… apprehend them…” he sits on the bench, sitting up with his leg extended. “Asgore! I’m glad that you’re alright!” someone springs out of nowhere, and appeared just above the King of monsters. Dianne rushes in with a surprise hug from above, which made the king lay on the bench helpless against the rogue’s merciless cuddling. Toriel happens to giggle a bit, seeing him like that. “Young Dianne, you can refer to the king as ‘Fluffybuns’.” She adds, while Dianne looks at back in surprise. She stops cuddling the Asgore after her king gave her a serious glare. Asgore gave the same glare at Toriel, and then she looks away.

                “Ahrm… sorry for intruding you, your highness.” She stood away and straightened her posture. Asgore sits up and then after a few seconds of silence, the two kings laughed. “Oh, Asgore. I never knew you had such a nickname!” King Farlon comments while wiping away a tear. “Hahaha, everyone calls me that back in the underground.” He jests, and then from the outside. There were two guys bickering at one another.

“For a Royal Guard, you sure did a good job protecting the princess!”

“For a challenger of the name, you sure did a good job sleeping on the pavement!”

“Oh, shut up! The next time I challenge you, maybe you’ll be the one sleeping on the pavement!”

“Be sure to survive me next time. I doubt that you’d survive a hail of bullets—“

                The two guys bickering started saying “Ow!” repeatedly, as if someone’s there to stop the fighting. Then a girl joins the fray, and scolds the two, “You two should be resting in your rooms! Especially you, Lugi!” It was Bianca scolding the two. From what they could imagine, the nurse must’ve pinched their ears down to her level while the two suffered. “Hey, Bia. Why me, too?! **Ow ow ow ow!** ” Bianca responds with an even louder voice, “ **Because you’re careless enough to get shot! It was bad enough that you were hospitalized once for going berserk, now you’re here because you got careless!** ” The challenger was laughing at the warrior, but the nurse kicked his shin and points him back to his room.

                “Bianca opens the door with a tray cart of food, while Rance follows with a cane. His whole left arm and leg were also casted, and from his expression he looks pathetic. Frisk went to Rance and jumps hug him. The warrior fell on the floor as the child was on top of him “Rance, you’re alright! I was so worried about you…” Bianca pulls away Frisk like a kitten and puts him next to Asgore before she even got the chance to cry. She looks down while massaging her forehead with her hand, while the other one is on her hip. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but please do not make the injuries worse than before, your Highness. If it weren’t for the Queen’s magic, you would be bedridden, again.” Dianne went to offer a hand to her brother, as he took up the offer.

                “hey kid, at least your buddy isn’t broken.” Sans and Papyrus follows up and entered the room. “FRISK, YOU FORGOT YOU ASGORE DOLL.” The tall skeleton give it to her; the two Dreemurrs look in shocked when they saw Frisk’s doll. The two stood up from their seat as they both called in unison “Asriel?!” King Farlon looked shocked as well. Asriel in Asgore’s royal robe doll, and then Frisk looks at the two. “A guy gave this to me as a reward at the Amusement Pier.” Rance leans on the wall as he scratched his head, knowing the feeling of worry of both Asgore and Toriel. “Yeah, that’s right. Because the whole stitching would ruin the doll, he decided not to give it some horns and hair.”

                The two Dreemurrs looked down, and then Frisk just recalled something. “What about—“ she then covers her mouth. It almost slipped from her words about her concerns with the real Asriel Dreemurr. If they were attacked by assassins, then what happened to everyone else? “Not to worry, my child. Your friend Dreas is safe. West, East and South are currently doing their job cleaning up the castle right now.” The Vor siblings, Bianca and Frisk then looked in concern. ‘Cleaning up? As in wiping out the assassins, or… “The assassins will be captured and questioned. I will rely on your skills to get some answers, Dianne.” The King gives his statement, and then Dianne bows down before saying “Yes, your highness.”

                Were there many of them to make a foolish assault on the household? What happened to the guards stationed there, as well as everyone else? Dianne stood up asking those questions in mind, and from the look on everyone’s face they were also wondering the same thing. Dianne, Frisk, Papyrus, and Rance gave their story of what happened at the Pier, and the King wasn’t too happy about it. He went silent as he looks as Frisk; the eyes that tell her ‘I shouldn’t have let her go outside.’ Frisk wants to answer back on their behalf, but the fact that she was easily abducted while the North Royal Guard and the Novice skeleton were there, it brought up a big disappointment in the king’s expectations.

 “Hey Rance, I heard the car crashed while you were being delivered to the hospital. What happened?” Sans raised his hand on Dianne’s face, as everyone turned their attention to him. “i was passing by, when the driver and the guard were fighting something. leaving him to bleed out. i… took care of the issue.” Rance intervenes, “I was half-awake that time, but Sans was able to bring us here…”

                King Farlon looks at Bianca in the eye, and asked. “What are the status of both my driver and guard?” Bianca crosses her arms and looked away, it took a while before she answered. “The guard can no longer walk, and the driver is blinded… His eyes were in complete void in black. Doc and I have never seen anything like it before.” Underneath the plate on the tray, she took out a paper with a drawing of a figure. “He kept repeating the words while he gave the details of the attacker. He also claimed that it was the same person who abducted the princess without anyone noticing.” She reveals the drawing to everyone, and for some reason, Asgore, Sans, and Toriel were surprised to what was drawn in the picture.

                Frisk also recalled that person as well, before she woke up in the middle of the fight. A tall white man, with a black smile, black eyes, and black robe with a white inner. There’s also a black crack on both eyes, wherein on his left the crack extends to his black smile, while the right extends to his head. The man also had white hands that looks skeletal but thick like that of a human, and on both hands there are holes. The robe he wears extend some form of black tentacle aura, and below the sketch there was something written. “ **Beware the man who speaks in hands.** ”

                “That’s impossible. He disappeared a long time ago, and there were no evident traces of him. Even with the advance search party…” Asgore gives his statement while sweat drops from his temple. King Farlon asks in concern, “Do you know this man?” Toriel answers for him, while the King of monsters is in a state of shock. “That man is Dr. W.D. Gaster, our first Royal Scientist. After some weeks of our children’s passing, he went missing, along with a lot of monsters. The king ordered a search party to look for the missing monsters, but there were no leads or biological traces left of them. It’s like they never existed.” Bianca adds something, “Whoever this man is, the driver was left psychologically damaged and the guard half-paralyzed.” Sans was starting to sweat, and the only ones to notice were Frisk, Dianne and Rance. What is going on? Something echoed inside Frisk’s head.

“You are the 150th child. It’s time to go home, and **into the void.** ”

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, there are several loose ends. I plan on answering them on the next main/extra. In the mean time, try to make a guess the answers of the loose ends. And for those who are wondering why the figure considers Frisk the **150th**? There's no harm in guessing. 
> 
> Writer's comment note: Oh by the way, who is Gigas Lionheart, and Seven Gears? Well, they're reference to Giga Lacan (AnimaLOID Lion), and Julius (Brave Frontier unit). At first, I thought of Seven's partner should be a wolf, but I had enough of wolf monsters. It would be too generic, then I thought he should be a White Tiger named Fuu Long, but that doesn't seem to fit well. Then, while I was thinking of a concept, I happen to encounter an UTAU music from Giga Lacan, the name of the song is "Shoe" or Kutsu, then I thought that he and his partner might have the same relation. So I went along with it.
> 
> As for Seven's concept, I already thought of him as a trickshooter before I made a reference of his appeareance. I was thinking that he should have another design, but I couldn't think of anything else other than 'red spiky hair'. It's like implying myself in the story, but I'm not Seven. So while I was thinking of a design, I was playing Brave Frontier, and then I summoned Julius. His concept and Seven's skill seems to match, but I didn't take up all of the details. And went along with it. XD I know, but I didn't take up most of the designs, and his job and Julius' are different. Seven is a Trickshooter, while Julius is a gunman with a blade.
> 
> Weird combination, Giga telling them that Seven is his **son**? Their story might come later after the next one.


	16. Dark Lies, Darker Illusions, yet Darker Truths (part one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here with a behind-schedule chapter. Sorry for the late update. My grandmother passed away, and I had to take care of my grieving dad. Too many things on my desk at the time as well, but here I am. Comment what you think of the story after you read it, and thanks in advance to those who would like to give condolences.

                Back at the castle, around 5:50PM, Asriel wakes up from his bed with arms stretching high and mouth wide with a yawn. The routine of him falling asleep at unusual times is rather weird for a being who was brought back from the dead. With small efforts of adjust his sights around him, he saw a familiar figure; a flower in a pot just at the middle edge of the bed. “ _Howdy, I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower!_ ” the cheerful plant greets. In an instant, Asriel was spooked that he was forced to sit up. He couldn’t avoid the feeling that his feet are caught up with shackles tied unto them. Taking off the bed sheet to the side, vines extend from the bottom of the flower’s pot tied around his ankles.

                His fear took over, forcing him to shout for help. No one came to his aid, not even Frisk. “ _Shhh~_ _you should know that your friends aren’t here to **help** you. While others who… actually don’t know you might get the **wrong idea**... hihihi.” _ One petal from flowey detached itself, falling down slowly while it blew wind towards the helpless monster. That petal went to Asriel’s nose, and then a blink of vision appeared in his mind: Frisk, Papyrus and Rance are having fun at some amusement park and pier. “Huh?” Asriel seem curious why he’s seeing the pictures in his mind. Up until it showed a pale man in a black attire behind Papyrus, and snatched Frisk while everything is gray.

                “No, Frisk!” Asriel cries out, until a small vine extends to tear the petal in front of him. “ _Oopsy~ I think we need to **change the channels** here._ ” The smile on the flower was jagged while eyes show malice. It seems that it enjoyed the naïve monster’s reaction, and once more did it detach another petal. Flowey blew it in front of Asriel as it lands on his forehead. Now it projects the image of the two kings and the caretaker having a meeting at the garden. From what it looks like, the King bear bad news to them, as Toriel could barely contain herself. He could see the images, but it doesn’t come with sounds. “What are they saying…?” Asriel is rather concerned that from the look on their faces as well as his mom’s reaction, it looks as if King Farlon told them about him. “ _Oh, Golly. Did the human king, spill the beans? Are they going reclaim their dead son, who **murdered** Chara once? Or will they **kill each other**? Hihihi._ ”

                Judging from Asgore’s draw of his trident, it looks like he’s going to engage battle. Flowey once again tore the petal in front of Asriel with a tormenting look in its face. “Why, what do you want?” he angrily asks while a number of footsteps could be heard approaching his room. “ _Why, you ask? Are you really that brain-dead to forget what I want? **You** have Chara and Frisk’s… Determination. **You** have regained your own powers. What I want, is **YOU!**_ ” a sinister laughter loudly echoed from Flowey’s mouth as it alerted those who are outside. The plant gathered its inner vines, and reformed around it. From there, goes a transformation.

                Asriel casts a magical flare that acted like an instant flashbang. In efforts, he took his armor set and weapon, and immediately ran towards Frisk’s room while the monster tries to recover vision. As soon as he got there, he immediately wore them with haste, while from the other side of the door a menacing voice calls unto him. “ _Oh Azzy~! Come out and play!_ ” the door was banged hard, and just when he finished putting in his suit, he readied both short swords. Hands are shaking, as smoke comes out of his room. Someone about his size stepped out of the room, and there revealed Frisk. “Frisk—“ he lowers his guard, but suddenly she attacks him with a green knife. In quick reaction from Chara, he blocked it with his Dream sword, but she keeps forcing her hand unto him.

                Flowey as Frisk gives an eerie smile while she tries to press her weapon towards the guarding monster. Asriel parries sideward as he shifts to the right. “ _Oh, come on now, Asriel. Aren’t we best friends?_ ” It was Flowey’s voice twisted to both Chara and Frisk’s. Her eyes were glimmering with terrifying death wish, as the monster readies his other sword, Hope’s Peak. “What did you do Frisk?!” his eyes glimmered a sense of hate, as he unintentionally casts fire magic. Two resonating fire orbs have burst in between her, as they quickly hit her. The imposter bursts into flames as it cries with the princess’ voice, and with the worst luck and timing a tall white blonde lady with rose pink lips in a black military general uniform busts the door open. She was shocked to see an armored child and a burning body in Frisk’s room, and to what she could identify, the burning body looked like Frisk.

                “ _H-help…me…_ ” before the imposter turned to ash, the lady took out a rapier and an old pistol from her sheath and holster. “Who are you and what are you doing here?!” sharp and hostile words came out of her, and with what is happening. The burning body turned to ashes, and with that he’s left with the military lady. “Uhhh..” fear grips him; he was falsely framed by Flowey, making her think that he burned Frisk alive. She didn’t hesitate to give him a chance to explain the situation with a single lethal swing of her weapon. The other was pointed towards Asriel’s chest, and realizing the danger he ran back to his room. The military woman ran towards the next room, and immediately points her gun to the other door.

                “Tsk!” she frowns with thin eye brows furrowing, mad that he got away and a murder took place. She’s someone Asriel can’t deal with, and judging from the speed of her attack it was similar to Rance and King Farlon. The armored monster got away with his cloak magic, and from here on he needs to flee. With someone witnessing him with a burning child, people will assume that he burned the princess alive. Flowey literally pulled a fast one on him, but does that mean that it’s the end of Flowey? Asriel runs down the stairs with thoughts of regret. Why did he cast his flames? He stops at the moment as more guards are charging up stairs. He moves to the side where he wouldn’t get caught up. Another thing crossed his mind, as he crosses the long tunnel way towards the West City… How did it imitate Frisk’s body in the first place? As soon as he ran away towards the city of green, he’s now considered a criminal- a killer of the Royal Household.

                What Asriel doesn’t know is that there was an attack on the two kings, and by chance the incident will be pinned on him. From a comfortable living to solo adventure- he will be hiding his true identity until everything settles down. He could leave by the gate, but he’ll need Rance’s help with that. He could fly out of the tall walls, but if they see him use that he might be gunned down. Sans isn’t there to bail him out, using his shortcut, and in his current state he needs to hide somewhere he’ll be alright with.

* * *

 

                He continues to walk at the street while the lights around him illuminate the surroundings. It sure is a lively one like the usual bust of Footloose, news from public wide televisions report about the North City Amusement Pier attack put all other three on high alert. The audience are making comments about it being the monsters’ fault. Some are lead to think that the King favors them than his own kind. All sort of questionable speculations and such, it made Asriel think.

                ‘ _Ignore them. They’re not worth talking to.._ ’ Chara gives her comment, as he continues to walk. ‘What if I try to befriend humans, just like Frisk befriending the monsters? You could be my guide, Chara.’ He thought while he looks at some of them. ‘ _Are you crazy?! Unlike in the Underground, there are like hundred thousands of humans in this city. Not all of them are as open as ours._ ’ She is against his decision, not to mention his encounter with a lady in a military suit just gave her an impression of danger signs all over the place.

                It’s a long walk, and he continues to argue with her in his mind until he bumped onto a guard. His cloak magic went off, exposing him in the open. “Hey, you’re that kid who was with the Northern Royal Guard, Rance Vor.” It’s the guard who was on duty at the west gates.

[FIGHT]                [ **ACT** ]                     [ITEM]                  [MERCY]

                “Uhh, howdy.” He looks up at him and raised a hand as he greets him. “Well, howdy to you, too.” He mistook his hand greeting as he high fives Asriel—Dreas. “What brings you here, Young Liem? Something weighing your mind” he asks cheerfully. In all honesty, he doesn’t know what to say, and judging from the impression the news hasn’t reached him yet. “I’m just strolling…. to the park!” he just realized that he’s in front of the park’s archway entrance. He shifts to the left a little and saw his polar twin blades. “Young one, do you know that it’s against the rules for children to be armed without parental supervision?” he gives a stern stand; both hands over his waist while he face the trainee.

                In quick thinking, he asks him a question. “How about you, aren’t you supposed to be stationed at the gates?” courtesy from Chara’s suggested line, the guard breaks his stance with a step back and an arm raised above his chest. “Ggghk—Well, it’s currently my break. A-and my co-worker is currently his shift!” he fix his stand once again “That’s right! It’s my co-worker’s shift!” the way he said it, following by an awkward laugh literally gave it away. From inside the helmet, he raised an eyebrow and said to him, “You left your shift so open, didn’t you?” hands crossed, Dreas isn’t making it easy for him. “I-err..” the guard gives up with a sigh as he rubs the back of his helmet. “Yeah, you’re right. Apparently, my co-worker left his duty early and made me stand guard on his shift.”

                He looks bummed as he continues, “That’s why I left my shift so that he could take it.” The trainee asks him with a hand below his chin-part of the helmet. “If he didn’t come back then, would he attend tonight’s shift?” that thought crossed his mind. What if he didn’t come back like last time? “Oh shipping goods. Come with me!” he pulls Dreas by hand as he was dragged into the situation. With him being flustered, his defenses are lowered. Chara asks if hek would [ **FIGHT** ] or [ **SPARE** ]. In Dreas’ case, it’s obvious that he’s going to [ **SPARE** ] him.

* * *

 

                With haste, they arrive at the toll gate station where he was stationed. Upon checking there, is a large green-armored guard with a crossbow that is as big as its back equipped behind him. The weapon’s shape is rather a curious one, as it looks like it can also be used as a pick axe. He seems to be doing well in filtering who could pass and who is stopped. “Oh, green petals. It’s Darvenshel.” The guard gives a frightened remark, as he hid at the side of the building along with Dreas. “Who is he?” the trainee asks in curiosity. “That big green tank is Darvenshel Bastille, the Royal Guard of the West. and he’s my boss.” It seems that he looks calm in working under someone else’s shift as Dreas peaks a little.

                The trainee insist on pulling the guard, but he refused to let himself exposed. For other people in the neighborhood, it’s like a father and son relationship where the armored child is begging him to come back with his or her mother, while the armored father refuses. More and more people are starting to spectate the events, until the guard noticed a number of civilians watching. “All right, all right! I’ll come clean.” The guard finally admits defeat as he walk towards the station.

                The green tank shifts his attention as he sees one of his men coming back to work. “And where were you, soldier?” Darvenshel asks. “I was…” he was afraid to speak up, but to his surprise, the trainee spoke for him. “He was with me, helping me get familiar with the city.” Dreas Liem stands by for the guard. “Hmmm… and who are you?” The green tank asks with a stance like a giant. “Howdy. My name is Dreas Liem.” He raised his hand once again as a greeting, and then lowers it immediately. If the Royal Guard mistook that for a high five, then his heave hand might break a few bones. Darvenshel didn’t mind the assumption, but he kneels almost to the trainee’s height level and asks. “What brings you out during the night?”

                “I-I went to walk out.” Dreas reasoned, but it wasn’t much of help. “What about your parents. How could they let a young child roam free during the nights?” judging from his tone, he plans on lecturing whoever his guardian is. “Sir, I hate to inform you this, but Dreas is an orphan.” the green tank fell in silence, but he continues to look at the young armored lad. “He’s a child whose family got murdered by a bandit raid. Rance didn’t give the full details, but—“ Darvenshel interrupts the guard with a hand raised to his face. “And you are his apprentice, I assume.” The trainee can’t respond well to the other, since he’s new to befriending humans. Chara gives a face palm with a thought within Asriel’s thought, ‘you should have asked for Frisk’s advice.’

                Before Dreas could say a word, Darvenshel stands up and takes out his phone from his right gauntlet, with a message from someone with the name ‘Rose’. After a moment, he puts it back and looks at the trainee. “Well, now. Since you’re still in training, and Rance isn’t here to supervise you, I’ll let you stay at my place.” There was a surprise sound that meekly echoed through Dreas’ helmet, and proceeds to rub the back of his neck from below. “Oh, thank you.” Meanwhile, he looks back at the guard and said, “You shouldn’t abandon your post like that, Ryan.” the green guard just revealed the other’s name. “I’m sorry, but Patrick hasn’t come back for two days.” He reasoned as he gestured his hands up. The Royal Guard puts his clenched fist at the side of his chin as he looks down, thinking. “Now that you mentioned it, he hasn’t reported or even notified anyone of his whereabouts. The others have checked his home, and no one is there.”

                The Guard, Ryan seem to be having some doubts. “I thought he was just skipping shifts a few days ago when he told me to hold his spot for a moment. After that, he hasn’t come back.” The Royal Guard sighed for a moment, and after some thought he gives his assignment. “Until Patrick returns, you should be stationed for a while. Once he returns, I’ll give you a week of paid leave.” Ryan immediately looks at his boss; a generous offer it is, he takes it. He returns to his outpost while Darvenshel and Dreas left. The eyes in the green guard glimmer, and the chances of him facing him in combat is high.

* * *

 

[Back at the Hospital]

* * *

 

                A lot of things had happened in one day, and it’s not very easy to comprehend. Among all things, the heat is on W.D. Gaster, the first Royal Scientist of the monsters. The abduction, the attack, and even the seed. How is the monster who went missing for unknown years, only to reappear in 20XX terrorizing the humans? What are his plans? The people inside the room; King Asgore seated next to Frisk with a Dreemurr Doll is in deep thought. The same goes for Toriel, who is seated next to King Farlon’s bedside. Sans knows something, but he wouldn’t talk, the Vor siblings assumed, while Bianca and Papyrus looks at everyone, who are making grim expressions as they ponder.

                “Your highness, I would like to report to you the events during lunch hours.” Dianne kneels down towards the resting king, head bowed and with one arm extending to the floor. “What is it?” the human king asks. “While visiting a friend, the man on the description had abducted all tenants in the apartment I was in, along with my associates Seven Gears and Giga Lionheart. Papyrus, Frisk and Rance looked at her in shock.

                “The two who kidnapped my daughter?” he asks in disbelief, the voice raised a bit with hands clenching on his bedsheet. “Affirmative, my king. The pale man, Gaster made them disappear out of thin air, similar to Sans’ warp magic.” They all looked at the short skeleton, including Papyrus. The rogue continued her report with her head towards King Farlon. “He must’ve done something to them, as I have known their background and personalities.” The king forces himself off bed with his left shoulder twitching once. “I see. But I will determine their fates if they are worthy of redemption or not.”

                Dianne continues, “Sans might know something about Gaster. If it weren’t for his sudden appearance, I would’ve been abducted.” Recalling that the pale man was about to abduct her, and then from behind a Gaster Blaster fired a full strength, making a hole on the 2nd floor building up the next house. Sans was flattered by Dianne’s unnecessary statement with hands up just above his shoulders, and one eye socket closed to make an impression. Rance was rather curious, “What time did he save you from this, Gaster?” he asks doubtingly. “It was past lunch time…” the fact that Sans was at the castle during around that time didn’t make sense.

                “Oh, I have to go attend to the others’ needs.” Bianca suggest, and with that she left the food tray with everyone, and exits in a hurry. Funny how she prepared nine plates, and pairs of knives and forks for everyone. Going back to the discussion, “Sans ask to go out for a minute.” Frisk adds while she hugs the Dreemurr doll. Asgore is still bothered that she’s hugging a doll that looks like Asriel, all while the short skeleton drops both hands, and opened his eye socket, looking at everyone. “Sans, would you like to tell us the truth?” Toriel asks in concern. She continues, “You weren’t yourself during the days the city was being constructed, and you go missing whenever we’re not around. And for some days, you go off, and come back as if nothing happened.” Sans pulled out his brown envelope with documents from the back of his jacket, and hands them to Toriel.

                “i was prepping for an exam.” He said as he gives a relaxed impression. Five papers containing his info, certifications and other legal documents. With impressive scores on the 3rd paper, Toriel looks back at the skeleton, all while Papyrus approached her to peek in the documents. Papyrus’ eye sockets widen with what appear to be eye balls pooping out of them, dumbfounded by the score and his new title. “PROFESSOR SANS?!” from where he exclaims in question, it was almost point blank to where King Farlon is. Asgore might d something to the tall skeleton, but this time he asks nicely “Papyrus, may you please lower your voice, as if you’re whispering?”

                Papyrus looks at his king and said with a whisper “OKAY!”. his whisper sound normally loud, but it’s not that ear piercing for King Farlon anymore. Sans found an opportunity to torment his brother and adds, “sorry pap for passing out on you. i should’ve mentioned that i was passing my exams.” King Farlon, Frisk, King Asgore, and Toriel finds it funny, but Papyrus, Dianne and Rance. Papyrus gives a minimal exclaim, which made Frisk laugh harder at the joke. Dianne clears her throat out loud to get everyone’s attention, “but that doesn’t explain why you knew where I was, and what was happening.”

                Sans asked the Vor siblings and his brother to sit with Asgore and Frisk on the long bench. “for starters, ever since we were free from the underground, there was an anomaly or two that had been acting up.. one was the talking flower appearing in nightmares, and one is what i could call, timeframe anomaly flux.” Everyone else seem to be in question what that means. Dianne asks, “what’s that?” It was obvious that none of them know about that. “i’ve talked about this to mr. dunkelheit. it’s an irregular fluctuation between the past and present time. all caused by both g’s experiment, and the previous- or current frisk’s resets.”

                “Resets?” Frisk asks in curiosity. In her expression, she doesn’t seem to know what it means, but Sans’ grin suggest otherwise. “first i need to explain gaster’s sudden disappearance and reappearance. it happened a few years after the first fallen child’s death. he was experimenting a way to turn back time to ensure the victory of the monsters during the war, all while researching a way to control space if ever the first failed. in doing so, he made two newborn vessels for that… **me and pap**.” Asgore, Papyrus and Toriel were surprised about this information. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?” Papyrus is in disbelief, while Asgore thinks back. Gaster is also a skeleton, so it should’ve been obvious that they’re related to him.

                But the time gap when Sans and Papyrus appeared is very large. “it doesn’t make any sense that our time gaps are too big, you assumed, your highness?” he looks at the king without breaking a grin. “i was about three years old, and pap was a newborn. we were just expendables so that he could get what he wants, but when the other caretaker monsters found out about his experiment, they all went to stop him without consulting the king and queen. you could say, führi and krauser were there as well. we were going to be dusted, but his machine went berserk. instead of just extracting ours, we also got some of his. like this gaster blaster.” At his side, he made one appear. The giant monster skull that beams out massive amounts of energy. he made it disappear, as he continues.

                “he succeeded, but the power he gains was too much that it created an instability. Everyone, including me and pap were sucked in the borders of a time rift, then the next thing we knew, we ended up at the back of a garbage can behind grillby’s, with a thrown away calendar that was dated year 19XX.” Papyrus shook his head continuously; it was like a big pill of truth that makes him choke before accepting it. Sans’ smile slowly disappears. “gaster never appeared, and eventually, he ceased to exist. i never told anyone about it because no one would remember about him. and it wasn’t worth remembering. judging from the monsters’ re-appearance at different time intervals, based on the dated encounters from the humans’ when we were having a discussion, those monsters were or might be all tori’s caretakers appearing at different years, outside the underground.”

                King Farlon asks, “So, you’re saying that he’s the reason why monsters came out of the surface, while the barrier was intact?” the skeleton nods. “But how does this center to Frisk? And what do you mean by Reset?” more questions keep raising, and Toriel is just as confused as Rance, who sits quietly with blank expression on his face. It’s either he’s daydreaming, or something is happening with his head. “i'll need to consult with the scholars at the university, before i could explain frisk’s current case.” Asgore stands up with a raised voice, “Why can’t you explain now? What’s happening right now, why is my former royal scientist appearing and disappearing, doing acts that are beyond our understanding?!” King Farlon also raised his question, “Why is it involved with my daughter? what did she have or do to be part of this…this time anomaly?!”

                Papyrus looks at Sans with a broken expression. “SANS, CAN’T YOU TELL US EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW?” the shorter skeleton is barely holding on, and from the looks of it he’s falling asleep. “…welp, i'll explain everything, once i get some sleep….” Dianne noticed that he’s just exerting himself to even explain the complications. Maybe because of what he did at the Pier, exhausted most of his strength. “In the meantime, I’ll get you and Papyrus a room at my place. You don’t look like you have enough strength to even pull off a shortcut route.” The rogue suggests, and from there Papyrus approached his sleep-standing brother, and carried him to his arms. “YOU LAZYBONES… YOU’VE DONE ENOUGH, DIDN’T YOU?” his brother cradles him with feelings conflicting. He’s pleased that Sans did something for once, but he felt betrayed that he didn’t tell him this before.

                King Farlon nods at Dianne, before she and the skeleton siblings left the room. The warrior isn’t convinced; the story is too crazy to believe, even for him, who just witnessed a skeleton being able to bend through space. As he thinks, there was a glimpse of vision that he doesn’t necessarily remember. A moment wherein he was on the ground, with Gaster reaching out to his face. At that moment, he stood up unconsciously, and with his leg cast, he falls to the floor. “Oh my, you should not stand up so sudden without your cane.” Toriel approached Rance as she helps him up. “Sorry, I thought I just saw something.” With her carrying her on his shoulders, he puts his freehand on his face while the vision fades to nothing. “Why did I stand up?” he asks himself. Asgore nods in excuse as he exits the room with Toriel and Rance.

                King Farlon’s phone rings on the side table, and he immediately picked it up. A voice of a woman exclaiming the situation, and in moment he looked at Frisk. “That can’t be right. Frisk is right here, alive and well.” The child walks toward her father, and receives the phone to answer to. “Hello? …. Yes, I’m okay. I was with Rance the whole afternoon… No, I wasn’t in my room at that time…. What happened? …. Where’s my friend….? ….. Dreas Liem is my friend…” Frisk is starting to get irritated, but there were no signs of the caller backing down. “No, you don’t understand! Dreas is--! …………. What do you mean he’s dangerous?! …… Then the next time you see him, apologize to HIM! ………. But…..” Frisk gives the phone to her father, and then runs out of the room with her face red, and tears overflowing.

                Her father couldn’t run off with his wounds, and from outside he could hear certain people concerned about her. “Frisk, my child. What is wrong—wait, do not run off in the halls!” Toriel was her first encounter. “Hey Frisk, are you okay? Wait, where are you going?” Further is Bianca, who also became worried. Her brother was with her as he scolds her, “Sis, can’t you tell that she’s not okay? Don’t be stupid when—ow, ouch! HEY!” he was interrupted by what sounded like Bianca’s kick to his shin. “Oh shut up, Lugina. You get back to your room while I get her.” A familiar, headache inducing voice caught up from afar, “WHAT IS THIS, A GAME OF CATCH AT THE HOSPITAL? HMMM… HUMANS, I WILL JOIN THE GAME OF CATCHING THE HUMAN.” While Asgore talks to the tall skeleton, “Papyrus, now is not the time to play trivial games.”

“Bianca, you look after the skeletons. I’ll go look for Frisk.” Dianne seems stressed, as she passed her duties to a nurse. “Sure, Dianne—well, she’s fast.” King Farlon, who was still in his room calls back to the caller, and asked. “Rose, you do know that you were talking to MY child.” She then replied, “I would have apologized to her if she didn’t hang up on me. But I wouldn’t have, either if her ‘friend’ likes to play fire. The remains of the burnt child had turned into dust, which makes me think if that person who just burned alive, was really a person to begin with. With what is happening, I would like to take charge of the Castle’s security. I will make sure any unauthorized people; not even monsters could take a set foot to the ground.”

King Farlon said with a low tone, “You may be the Royal Guard of the South, the steel defense of the Human Capital… But with what is happening right now, you will need to know everything…. Also, when you talk to my daughter, Frisk. Show some courtesy and apologize without abrasion. I will let your actions slide for tonight, but next time you will be facing me.” There was no response from the other end, “… Understood.”

The next morning, early around 6AM, Toriel performs her healing process on the two Kings as well as the other injured people. And with the Jade Dragonfruit tea’s effects, her magic is at its peak. Many people are thankful for her assistance in healing the injured, not just the two Kings but also the other humans, who get the chance to meet the Queen of Monsters. Many thanks were given, and some considered their views toward the monsters. What struck her the most are the comments:

“I didn’t think that the Queen is this kind.”

“She’s too nice to be the second feared monster.”

“I heard that the King and Queen of monsters are nicer than our King.”

“Thank you very much for healing my back, Miss Dreemurr.”

With that, West City Hospital’s number of patients dropped by 70%, excluding some who have serious illnesses, the driver who lost his sight, and the guard who’s half paralyzed. Doc Mercy gives Toriel a glass of water at the canteen, “Thanks for volunteering in healing our patients.” Toriel could just smile back at him and said, “It is okay, Doctor Doc. It is the least I could do after allowing me to sleep in one of the staff rooms.” Her reply seems to be mild. “Yeah… say, could you teach some of our doctors healing magic?” Doc asks her as he scratch the back of his head, like he’s shy to even ask that.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot teach you how to use magic. As our scrolls of teaching magic were taken away from us by your kind a very long time ago.” She said it nicely, but Doc felt like he was burned when he heard the phrase ‘your kind’. She doesn’t necessarily mean harm, he understood that part. “If we find where our ancestors have hidden it, could it teach us magic?” he suggests. “Of course, but before learning how to use magic, you must learn how to manage your focus energy.” Doc Mercy had a confused expression, as Toriel continued. “Naturally, monsters have what we call mana energy. It’s a force within us that allows us to use magic. But humans do not have mana to begin with. Before humans waged war against us, we have collaborated in studying our differences.”

“Humans can only cast magic, when they imply their mental focus into it. It differs from us monsters, as your kind can only learn certain levels when they understand the concept, as well as putting their focus. We only need to think of using our magic, and then our mana will do the rest.” Toriel explains. Doc Mercy was able to grasp what she’s trying to say. “So, unlike humans who need to study and focus to cast it, monsters only need to imagine it while controlling their energy into realization?” Bianca joins the conversation.

“That is correct, young Bianca. Humans have limitations when it comes to channeling magic, unlike us who can freely use it.” Toriel commends her, while she opens her hand and a small orb of fire appear on top of it. She then closed it before it generates smoke, as certain rooms have smoke detectors in case of fire. Time seems to have slowed down for a while, as the clocks tick a second after five counts. After the 5th second, time resumed normally. Toriel looks at the clock on top of the vending machine, and noticed that it was already 6:50AM. “Oh my, I must meet up with King Farlon and the others.” She said, and then hurried back.

Two Bentley State Limousines are on standby at the front entrance of the Hospital. King Asgore at the front seat and Rance Vor at the back are already at the second Limousine, while King Farlon waits outside for Dianne, Frisk, Papyrus, Sans and Toriel. All of them are in good shape, as their wounds have been healed. It seems that the others are running late. Toriel arrives as she pants for air. “I am sorry for my tardiness.” She fixed herself as she faces the human king. “It’s okay. You may be seated at the second car.” She thanks him for his consideration, as she joins Rance at the back. King Farlon looks at the time on his silver pocket watch with the Alpha Shield logo at front, as time points at 6:57AM. There are intervals that time suddenly slows down, taking up three ticks before a second proceeds while at certain times, the second wouldn’t move after seven seconds have passed.

“Oh my, is my watch breaking?” His phone suddenly rings. Upon returning his watch and picking up his phone, it was Dianne. “Hello, Dianne where are you?.... We’re here at the front entrance of the hospital… I don’t see you anywhere….. The skies are dark? No, the sky is blue, and there are many people passing by outside…….. Where are you, again…..?” at the point, he drops his phone, and starts to look around. Asgore, Toriel and Rance have exited the vehicle, as they asked what is wrong. “Rance, your sister is engaging a combat with W.D. Gaster, with Sans and Papyrus in this area. And Frisk is being held hostage….”

From the outside, a crowd runs and screams just outside the hospital. The four had rushed in to the scene, as several guards are engaging a combat with a pyro monster. To be specific, Grillby, who is terrorizing the streets. The fire man is making loud crackling sounds, while his neck and left part of his face is rooted with black energy. His left hand is also black, and the fires he makes are darker than usual. “We need backup, now!” one guard radios for help, and without hesitation. King Farlon walks in, along with Rance, King Asgore and Toriel. “Grillby, what is the meaning of this?!” King Asgore asks out loud, as he swings his other hand wide. The flames and damages the enraged monsters have made had been extinguished instantly; it must be Asgore’s doing.

Grillby looks at the king with an intent to engage combat, as his flames crackle. “I ask you to stand down.” Asgore warns him, but there are no signs of him yielding. A guard gives Rance a metal bo staff, as he nods in thanks. King Farlon unsheathes his rapier, and Toriel looks at the fire monster in concern. The monster king furrow his brows as he makes one last warning. “I said, stand down.” He pulls out his red trident from behind his cape in quick succession. Grillby slams both hands to the ground, as pillars of fire came up from the street pavements, destroying open roads and preventing those who are caught inside from running away.

                “It looks like there’s no way around it.” Rance said. The pillars of fire blocked everything, and the heat will kill everyone if they won’t do anything about it.

* * *

 

                At 6:45AM, Dianne comes back to the entrance with Frisk. “I said, let go of me!” the child suggested. Her hand is cuffed with the rogue, preventing her from slipping away. Sans and Papyrus exited the hospital, seeing the two humans cuffed made him crack a certain pun. “hey kiddo, looks like you’re chained to the situation.” he winks at Dianne while Papyrus exclaims the usual, “OH MY GOD, SANS. IT’S EARLY IN THE MORNING!” Diance and Frisk can’t help but chuckle a little. For a moment, Dianne felt like something wasn’t right. She looks around, and from what’s happening, the colors of the everything except for them are slowly going negative. The bright blue skies going dark, the green grass turns to blue, and the gray pavement with white lines became white pavements with black lines.

                Early joggers and commuters have disappeared, and from the looks of things the whole world went silent. Time seems to be moving okay, and the four’s colors are still intact. “What’s happening right now?” Dianne asked Sans, since he’s the only person she could ask in this situation. “…we’re put in the other side of reality. g's doing.” He said without breaking a grin, but how he said is too relaxed, as if it was expected to happen. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?” Papyrus looks at his brother furiously, as the shorter one points at the street. Gaster stands in the middle, while looking at Frisk. When Dianne turns around, the cuffs drop down and Frisk is nowhere in sight.

                A noise of syntax that could barely be understood. "le̬̯͙̟͎t͈̠͚̝̬'̡s̡͉ ̛̣̠̟̞͔ǵ̞̦o̤̼͙̣ ̛̭̦̠̲̼h̟om̷͚͇e̢͈̻,͙̹̤͡ ̮͔1̨̮͇5̹̘̦̱0̟th.̗̭͓̖͉̦̲” Dianne and Sans rushed in, while Papyrus followed. “Frisk, get away from that man!” the two ignored her, as Frisk held his holed hand in her own free will. Gaster looks back with an eye glimmering in gray. A wave of black energy surges in to wipe them out, but Papyrus’ long bones grew from the ground and blocked the attack.

                Dianne takes her phone, and calls in King Farlon. Strangely, the reception is okay and it made it somewhat convenient for her. Sans steps in and said, “listen kid. you don’t want to be with slim shady at the moment…. kid?” Dianne finally reaches the King. “Hello…. Sir, we have a situation. May I ask where you are at the moment? …. I’m also at that location, near the streets…. Sir, this might sound crazy, but we’re on the other side of where you are right now…….. Everything is on opposite; the skies are dark right now…. Sir, there are no other civilians here… No one but us five… We’re currently at the front entranceway of the Hospital. Gaster took Frisk from us---“ her phone breaks as the three were in battle. She did so far as to dodge and report, but one bone flew near her, forcing herself to break away.

                “Gaster, why am I 150th?” Frisk asks calmly as both he and the pale man are facing Sans and Papyrus, who are doing their best to hold off an attack. Something’s wrong with her, since she sounds too calm and innocent to her abductor. y͏͕̺̬̻͔͚͍o͍͓̭̙u̩̰̰ ͉̝͔a͓̻͇̲̟̞̥ṛ̟̖̹̖̥̬e͍̼̬͔͉̲͉͝ ̶̜t͇̺͖̪h̷e̴̘ ̼̣̰̯o̗n̮̟͈̠͉̜e͏̹͙͚͔͚͎ ͢h̵̼̠̙̦͈͕u̜̘͉̪͍̠͇͡n̟͙̞d͇̖̹r̞͝e͝d̴͇͙̜̞ ̙͚̙̤̮̕f̞̱̰̱͇͚i̩͇̺͙̟f̦͇̺̻̮̙̭t̷̪͕̣̤i̷̦̲͔̝ḛ̶t̻͍̳h͈̖̮̰̟͞ ̖͟ć̰̩͉̭h͏͖͉̘i͏͇͍͇̬͙͇ld̴̝̳ ̵t͉̱̪̖̟o̖̦͍͓̭͢ ̲̖͔̯̤̥rẹ̸̝̣͕̟ ̝e͞x̳̤̫̕i͏̻̱͉̜̙̙s̼̝͖̯̦͟t͙́ ͎͍͈w̫̻̝͜ͅi͈͈̗͉͚͙͡t̝̲̬͕̕ͅh͙̝̗̭̖͔̰͝o̧͓̣̤ͅù̼t̙̖̯͍̫͟ ̛̠͍r̶͕̯̘̙e̝͇̬͖s͈̦̜̜̩͎e̸̟̹̱̦̬̠t̶̻t̸í̘̹͈n̟͍̝̪̖g̷͇̫̮̝̰̹.̢̣͎̭̮̪̞” Dianne lashes her chainblades at Gaster, but he blinks away with the child. Now they’re on top of the building at front of the hospital. “Sans, do you know what they’re saying?” Dianne asked. “g said that frisk is the 150th child to exist without resetting… and it looks like he’s going to dispose of her… just like the other frisks who refused to reset…”

                Sans snapped his fingers, as the three appeared behind Gaster and Frisk. ̷̫̥͇̟̳̩͙it͙̀ ̘̝̻i҉̭̪͎̩̦̠s҉ t̖i̝̲͚m̹͍̩̥̳͚ͅḙ̙͢ ̧͚̖͙̳͚͇̻t̳̞̜ọ͕̝̻̳̯̘ ̼r̞͙͔̟̺es͓͎̦̥ͅe̢ţ̰̣̝͕̝̱̯,͓ m͕͘y̭͉͉̺̮̘ ̹͖͕͕͍̜c̟͢h͈̯i̝͍͓͠l̪d̢͉̺̹͕̠̲.̹̲̯͕̼̻ͅ” Gaster said, as he faces the three, who are about to engage in combat. The short skeleton’s eye socket burns in blue, as the thought of going all out made him say with confidence. “ **not while i'm here**.”

-Megalovania plays…To be continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone missed Flowey? Of course we miss Flowey. It's his story-- ahem. It's everyone's story, with Flowey playing the vital role. Is he dead, oh contraire, he's not dead... You could say, plants can reproduce. Well now, as for Sans' case, you might want to rethink of why [Sans and Papyrus' statues](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6526198/chapters/15499240) are there at another part of the CORE. If Sans is the skeleton who could manipulate space for his own shortcuts, then would that mean that Papyrus can control.... Welp, stay tune for the next u̫̫̱̙̼̕p҉̰̤͇̦d̺̜̮͕ą̤͎̹͚t͏̬͍͉̰̫é͔. Also, why not Windings? I don't think people would need to look for a way to translate it.


	17. Dark Lies, Darker Illusions, Yet Darker Truths (part two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here apologizing for the unnecessary delays. Post date is currently as messed up, and I can't say for certain when I'll post my next story chapter. But take note that it's either Monday or Friday. So far, i really had a **bad time** in writing this chapter part, thanks to several elements that could slow down human progress. ESPECIALLY UNNECESSARY POWER OUTS. But now, I got to finish it, finally.

                West City near the hospital. There was a conflict occurring. Just at the South West part of the Hospital, several pillars of fire surround the battle between a corrupted fire monster, and the Dreemurrs with the Human King and his men. Everyone who either lived nearby or were passing by were evacuated away from the scene, since the heat from the flames are almost unbearable for any normal civilian to handle. How will anyone survive from the inside? Even the King and the Royal Guard of the North would have troubles enduring it. Not to mention, they’re fighting a monster who is made of fire, while they fight alongside two monsters who care capable of casting high level fire magic.

                Fire trucks have made their way to the fire site, and from their distance even if it were to be some meters off, the scorching heat is unbearable. “We must extinguish the flames immediately!” one of them put up a lead, while the rest have set up their hose unto a fire hydrant. From all four directions, everyone fired their hoses at full power. Helicopters equipped with fire extinguisher have come to the scene and fired theirs as well, but the flames only went down a little. The clear sky that was polluted with smoke suddenly became cloudy. It didn’t take long before raindrops have fallen heavily, aiding the firefighters.

                One helicopter is different from the rest, as a woman in a suit reports with a mic on her hand, and a camera pointed at her. “This just in! A monster had appeared out of nowhere and chaos had spread out the West City. King Farlon, along with King Asgore Dreemurr had engaged in combat within the infernal grounds! There had been several blades clashing, and glass shattering sounds coming from the inside, but none have come out of it.” The rain grew heavier all of the sudden, and the fire pillars are slowly shrinking.

                Firefighters shout out, “All men, full force!” they all held their hoses as they approach with gushing waters. Pillars keep shrinking as all of them advance through the heated barricade. Slowly they take a step forward, until the sound of blades striking through and wind gust could be heard. The rain is about to stop, and the flames are going off on its own. A helicopter with a camera zooms in to see what’s going on; several silhouettes behind the thick smoke, and one glowing in crimson red. When the smoke cleared out, the glow disappeared; there are several people are coughing from the inside, and from there reveal the people and monsters who were fighting from the inside. Grillby, the enraged flaming monster and bartender of the Underground, kneels down as he faces the ground in a weakened state.

                King Farlon, the ruler of the surface stood with sharp eyes and partly burned clothes, his rapier’s blade is slid on the monster’s neck. Toriel Dreemurr, the former queen of the underground and caretaker, is by the other guards’ side providing support magic for them to survive the hell blazed environment. Judging from the King’s men’s state of breathing, they had a hard time enduring the heat. Asgore Dreemurr, the ruler of monsters is at the other side, polar to Farlon with his Trident ice blue slid at the back of Grillby’s neck. He has a scorch mark on his chest and right shoulder.

                Rance Vor, one of King Farlon’s Royal Guard kneels at front of the bartender with burn marks on his chest and arms, also at the left side of his neck. Judging from the pattern, it looked like he tightly hugged Grillby as the flames burned him still. His eyes are focused on the opponent, with one eye closed and his clenched hands on the ground. The asphalt was completely scorched from the monsters’ intense heat, while foot-size potholes are scattered around them. Guns were littered as their metal parts are glowing red, and a splattered spear-length metal could be seen at the edge of where the fires originated.

                Rance’s mouth moved like he said something, as the two kings have moved their weapons away from the monster. Grillby looks at the burnt human for a short time, before he looks down with his head shaking sideways. Firefighters who are there witnessing the scene had their hoses ready on the flame monster, in case it attacks again. All four sides are ready, and it will only take Farlon’s signal for them to let loose. As soon as their king opens his mouth, Grillby explodes. Scorching everyone within the ground vicinity. News reporter woman and the others who are in a helicopter just witnessed a suicide bombing.

                The terrible sight of many getting caught up in a conflagration, the stink of corpses burning, and the sinister sound of flames consuming what was just put out. A flower watching the fiery explosion, causing many deaths as it chuckles. “ _Oh, Humans… What HAVE you done? Hihihi…_ ” the tone became menacing after its chuckle. “ ** _You should have killed him when you had the chance._** ”

* * *

 

                On the other side of reality, on top of a four story building, Gaster holds Frisk back from Sans, Papyrus, and Dianne. Frisk is acting weird as if her mind is under control. The moment the pale man tells her to ‘RESET’, Sans stood up front with an eye socket fuming in blue. “not while i'm around.” Gaster Blasters appear behind them from under the streets, and open fires at the pale man. He warped back at the ground with Frisk, as he held her hand tightly. Bones grew too fast from the ground, but he didn’t falter. He kept avoiding all the attacks. Warping from one spot to another, Sans took the initiative to even ride his own Gaster Blaster, and continued his onslaught, while Papyrus is in shock to see the other side of Sans.

                The lazy skeleton he once knew, who just started working himself to the bone, loses his cool. “SANS, WAIT!” Papyrus doesn’t possess the flying skeletal monster head just like his brother so he couldn’t stop him, and even with his floating bone he wouldn’t be able fly fast enough to catch up. While Dianne observes carefully. Her eyes were hot on the pale man, she traces where Gaster would reappear and disappear. Her ability to track is almost precise that she starts to get ahead of where they will warp to. “Papyrus, let’s go.” Dianne said as she runs to the edge of the building, and jumps down. Papyrus ran towards the edge of the building and looked where the rogue fell.

                In mid-air, she rolled once and crouches down when her feet touched the ground. She lands on her feet safely like a cat who just fell from the balcony. “Come on! I know where he’ll be heading.” She shouts from below as she waves her hand towards her before standing up. Papyrus made several small bones appear like ladders, as he steps down carefully. For some time, the tall skeleton couldn’t mutter a word. He must be saving up the lecture for later, Dianne assumes.

* * *

 

                Meanwhile, Sans keeps chasing after Gaster and Frisk with all he has. All of his bones that he unleashes, even the beams all points to him and only him; the attacks are calculated to not even graze the child, despite that they are all loose cannons. On the other end, all Gaster did was evade with his hostage. Frisk looks at Sans with dead emotions, while the short skeleton tries to improvise with each attack on the spot. “well, g. you really want me to look like the baddie. but kid knows more than you do, that she won’t do that for any reason.” Sans steps off from his floating skeletal head, as he tries to catch a break. The flame in his eye socket had shrunk a bit, his power to keep it up is slowly draining.

                All Gaster did is smile back at Sans, and made his own Gaster Blaster appear just above his head. One thin monster skull, unlike Sans’ big or round ones fired a small beam, almost as thin as a spear’s thickness. Sans warps away from the attack to the other end, and from a distance the beam demolishes the ground, creating a crater about two meters in radius. The short skeleton felt more provoked that his opponent has more firepower than he has.

                Frisk flinches as she cries out to his name. “ **C҉o҉n̶t̕inue** o͢r ͟ **R̸e̛s͠e̸t͠**?” the pale man in black asks. He held her hand tighter, while her eyes flicker in gray. After that, there were no movements. They just stood for a while. Sans felt something isn’t right this time. Knowing the man who speaks in hands, he would do more than just intimidate him. That applied when Rance and his companions were attacked, and he didn’t cut any slack for them. He sneaks in with a quiet warp at a nearby tree, and looked what was happening.

                The child’s eyes are gray, as she makes an epileptic movement, all while Gaster had his eye sockets closed. He’s force feeding visions to Frisk, and it doesn’t look pretty for the kid. Sans had to act now, or regret it later. He made one bone appear on his hand, and threw it in test if the pale man would react to it. The bone was about to hit him, but Gaster opened one eye socket, and made the bone stop on mid-air. His concentration breaks, and Frisk breathes in deeply. Her strength to stand loosens, but her abductor won’t let her fall to the ground.

                “…S-sans…” she cries out. Gaster returns the bone at full speed with his own telekinesis, and the attack went through the wall. “what did you do to the kid?!” his usual eye socket glow burns back at full force. The smile on his face frowns, while he moves his head in circular motion. In range, he took back the bone he returned and showed it to the child. She screams in agony while hiding her face behind the pale man. He lets go of the child, as she hides at back. In an instant, Gaster blinks away, leaving both Frisk and Sans alone.

                “h-hey, kid… you okay?” Sans tries to approach, but the moment she sees her, she runs back to the black and pale figure. “what did you do to the kid?” Sans frowns as his eye socket burns brightly. Frisk cowers in fear as she sees him in that state. The short skeleton noticed what’s wrong, as his presence brings terror to Frisk. He tries to take a step forward with his eye sockets unlit, and Frisk trembles behind the Gaster. “reme̷m͠be̸r ẃhen ̢yo̡u ͞t͞er̛mina͜t͏ed͡ ̀t̕h͝e̢ anom͡aly͜?” he teased with a broken syntax sound.

                The previous **Genocide Route** , committed by her in the previous reset. He recalled the worst ending possible, that even in death he watched how everything went downhill. It was one of the least pleasant memories that was needed to be recalled, and Frisk’s case, she doesn’t remember why she committed mass murder. One thing she could see right now is fear, all from how Sans took her down more times than she could handle. Judging from her reactions so far, she doesn’t seem to possess the characteristics of a mass murderer back before, it might be because she was force fed with memories that was never hers to begin with.

                Sans calms down for a moment, while he puts his hands back to his pocket. He inhaled for a bit with eye sockets closed, and exhales later on. “frisk, you still there?” he asks with his level down for her. She doesn’t wants to respond back. “kid, don’t you want to greet your ol’ pal sans a hello? heh, tough crowd.” His bad joke doesn’t seem to reach her well. The child was about to hold Gaster’s hand, but something soft was in the way. A long fart sound happened, which made the pale man flinch. Frisk chuckles a bit since Sans’ opponent didn’t expect a whoopee cushion to appear there. He drops it while it wheezes out more fart noise.

                “didn’t expect the doc to know how to make fart noises with his bare hands.” Frisk chuckles again from the short skeleton’s joke. “and here i thought you were empty inside. looks like you’re still full of air underneath that coat of yours.” Gaster is getting provoked by jokes that doesn’t make any sense, as he unleashed two Gaster Beamers on Sans. Two large craters were made on the middle of the street, and from behind, he was lying flat on the ground with his head tilted up by his arm and hand. “i know you miss us, g. but i didn’t expect you to miss me a lot.” He winks with his grin, and warps away from a number of bone stabs.

                Frisk is starting to regain her usual self; she recalls the good moments she had with him and Papyrus in the Underground. Sans’ plan to torment Gaster is working well. He continues to dodge Gaster’s barrage of attacks, while making several puns about him being an empty skeleton, an inaccurate shooter, and a grand fartmaster. The memories of the mass murder is slowly being forgotten, until the pale man lost it completely. He tantrums with a tsunami of diagonal bones, and with its lack of speed it was easily evaded. Sans found an opening, and went straight to Frisk. “hey pal, you feelin’ alright now? don't let egghead here hatch your determination.” She nods with a relieved smile on her face.

                Sans finishes him off with one last joke. He appears at Gaster’s side, and threw a small bone in an arc towards the pale man. From the back of his sweater, an annoying dog comes out and charges in on the bone. It leaps up high to catch the bone, while at the same time the bone was just about to fall unto Gaster’s head level. The annoying dog jumps on his face, only to catch the bone. The pale man disappeared, as well as Frisk.

                Sans saw that Frisk isn’t afraid of him anymore, but Gaster had to snatch her away. Sans looks around and ask, “kid, where are you?” there was one that just blinked towards him. Gaster’s Beamer open fires at Sans, as he warps away. He went to the other side of the neighborhood, but another beamer fires at him. This time, he warped towards the sky, and made a big blaster appear beneath him as his platform. As he looks down, he saw a total of 50 in a small radius of the city, where he fought against the abductor. All pointed upwards, and fired upwards. Like a fly dodging raindrops during the storm. Sans didn’t hesitate, as he bends down for a moment and puts his hand down. He pulled his hand up in the air, and bones from the city ground start to ascend in where the beamers are placed in. With each pull up, beamers break and explode simultaneously.

                Sans closes his eye sockets for a moment, as he listened through the almost quiet atmosphere. The sound of small pieces falling to the ground, the sound of Dianne and Papyrus’ footsteps, and then the small cry of the single child, ‘it hurts…’. The short skeleton noticed her cry as he said “found you.” he opens them, and then he flew towards where that sound was coming from. As he flies toward there, he made more of his Gaster Blasters appear, surrounding him in a circle. Each one open fires on a specific angle whenever a beamer is in sight, while the rest are focused in detection. ‘don’t worry kid. i'll keep my promise to tori, just like you kept your promise for us.’

* * *

 

                The rogue and tall skeleton made their way towards the inverted southern part of the West City. From there, the houses are mostly three story green apartments with one tree at front, one trash can at the side of the porch, a mailbox near the tree, and lastly a clean pavement street. Sometimes, the Royal Guards of each city have their own preference of norm neighborhood areas. The houses and other positioning of trees and other stuffs are too identical. The only way for tenants to identify their home is by reading the door numbers. Dianne is all too familiar with the area, so she wouldn’t have any problems in navigating. Papyrus on the other hand, “WHAT IS THIS PLACE? ALL THE HOUSES ARE IDENTICAL!” he freaks out with his foot repeatedly stomping the ground.

                Dianne goes to the middle of the road, and then looks down for a moment. She puts her finger on her chin as she thinks, and then took out a chalk from one of her pockets. “Papyrus, put up tall blue bones…” she kneels down for a moment, and drew a cross mark on a certain spot. “Here.” she stands up and moves away. “HUMAN DIANNE, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY I SHOULD CAST MY BONES IN AN OPEN AREA?” he crossed his hands with a stern look. “You’ll see~” she kindly teases as she put her hand with a chalk at the side of her face, and grins mischievously. She steps away from the mark, while Papyrus itches his head. He did what she asked, and put up tall blue bones on the mark.

                Dianne equips her chain blades, as she readies with a rogue stance. From the distance, the sound of violent beams reaches in closer, and from there Papyrus and Dianne braced for the worst. In a blink of an eye, Gaster warped exactly where the mark was, and from there he’s forced not to move. Dianne lashed her chains toward Frisk, and had her rope tied by the leg from a distance. Without hesitation, she pulled her away from the abductor’s clutches. The child flew towards the rogue, and in turn she catches her on her arms. “WOWIE, HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?” Papyrus was rather impressed.

                Chains tied to her were removed. Frisk curls into a ball on Dianne’s arms, as she held her arm tight. “It hurts….” Papyrus comes to check his friend, while Sans follows up lining up his flying skeletal heads at the trapped man. Dianne carries her, and stole a glance at the trapped fiend. “What do you really want from Frisk?” the low tone of her voice indicate a certain edge, an urge to go all out. But her rational thinking forced her to prioritize their safety. Sans walked to the side and said, “g here wants to take frisk’s ability to reset time at will.” Going straight to the point, Papyrus shook his head to his brother.

                The tall skeleton thinks carefully, as he couldn’t grasp the situation. What happened to Sans, why is he like this? Papyrus isn’t used to seeing him participate this much, as he could only remember him as his lazy, yet reliable brother. Gaster made his eye sockets glow in blue, and the blue bones that was forcing him not to move dissipates to dust. The question of ‘how did they caught me’ could be seen in his bitter frown, while both Sans and Dianne looks at one another, before returning their attention to the pale man.

                “Sans gave me number coordinates, just before we confronted you at Bakerstreet Building. All he had to do is buy some time, even rescue the princess if he could. While we do the rest.” Dianne answers confidently, while Frisk looks at her from below. “your movements aren’t easy to read, but your pattern is based on numbers. figuring that out is as plain as death.” Sans is rubbing salt to Gaster’s calculations. Gaster claps both holed hands together, and a symphony of Gaster Beamers rained from the sky. Trees burned from the heat wave the attacks produce, while buildings gain holes like Swiss cheese.

                Sans warps away with everyone to a safe location, and the game of tag switches to the man who was rumored to speak in hands. Dianne sees him more like a computer having a broken dial-up when connecting to the internet, since the noise he makes when he speaks while gesturing hands sounds about like that.

* * *

 

                The other side of Reality, North City. Sans made a decision to warp there, since West City looks like a rundown battlefield. Dianne hopes that their reality isn’t affected by this as well. Papyrus takes a look at Frisk’s condition. Her arm seems to have been sprained, and in turn one of the three have to lend her a piece of long cloth to make up as an arm cast. To Papyrus’ aid, he lends his red scarf. “HERE YOU GO, FRISK.” He gives it to her, but doesn’t have a clue that she couldn’t put it on by herself. Sans looks around while Dianne drops her knees to the ground, as she one handedly put on her arm cast, while the other holds her still ensuring that she doesn’t fall off of her legs.

                The moment she finished putting up Frisk’s arm cast with the red scarf, she puts her down for a moment. The child stood carefully with a nod in advance. The four looked around, and saw some damages to the buildings as well. Was there a fight here at North City? One of the lamp posts was cleanly cut, a wall was broken as if a car crashed through, and then there are some foot-shape holes on the road, the streets, and even the walls. There are also some brick parts that looked like they were cleanly cut off, while some glass windows from stores or houses are shattered with gun shots. Dianne doesn’t need to second guess what happened in the area, since no one else could make foot holes like his brother could.

                Dianne turns her attention to the short skeleton and asked, “Sans. My brother was here, right?” the tone she made was assuring. “There’s no one else who could leave those kind of footprints all around other than my brother.” Sans didn’t look back as he answered, “yeah. we were here last night when he confronted g.” Papyrus and Frisk are shocked to know what happened to the three. “So my guard lost his ability to walk, and my driver lost his ability to see, because of Gaster?” the child asks in disbelief. “g controlled your bodyguard like a lifeless puppet with strings. couldn’t help your buddies since i was also dealing with gaster’s gravity shift.” He closed his eye sockets and recalled what happened. Dianne knows how well her brother fights. “My brother is highly skilled in combat. And with his speed, only the king, and South could defeat him.”

                Papyrus seems to have some small experience as he announce, “NOT TO WORRY, HUMANS. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL HOLD HIM OFF NEXT TIME WE FIGHT.” Sans shook his head. “no offense, pap. but I don’t think—“ there was someone who walked from the other side of the street. A familiar warrior holding a ghastly spear but his whole body is blurred in void, then two more followed. One had gloves with black aura with eyes misted in charcoal smoke, while the other had a pristine onyx gun with half below his body blacklit. It doesn’t look familiar from afar thanks to their dark manifesting aura, but from the rogue’s perception. “Everyone, get back!” Sans reacted fast with a barrier row of bones, but the shadow spearman struck through with a familiar and unique swing. It cuts through as if the opponent hacked through bamboos cleanly.

                The smoke of the aura clears. It’s a dark reflection of Rance Vor, the Guard and the Driver. “SANS, WHAT OTHER THINGS COULD GASTER DO?!” he summons his spear-length special bone attack. Papyrus intercepts the shadow warrior’s attacks, as he successfully blocks rapid attacks. The one having dark aura fist runs in and attacks Dianne. The other runs to the other side, and then stops where he plans to shoot from afar. Frisk and Papyrus recognized the two. It’s the driver and the guard that were with them yesterday.

                “ ** _Must….kill…_** ” the dark warrior said, before blurring out. Dianne joins in the disappearing act, and without any warning metal clash from almost everywhere, while random places start to gain foot-size sink holes. The driver runs to where the sound leads him, and started to fist fight without knowing where his opponent is. “ ** _can’t….see…_** ” Papyrus finally realized something was wrong with the driver. “OH MY GOD, SANS. THAT HUMAN IS BLIND.” His reaction gave it away, as the blind opponent rushed towards Papyrus. His punches were loose cannons, as the skeleton was having a hard time blocking them.

                The guard with the gun had his sights on Sans, and fires a number of rounds on him. The short skeleton made a blaster appear in front of him as a shield, but it only took five shots before it starts to crack open. Frisk was in the middle of a fight between everyone, while Gaster walks from behind. “yo̕͘u̵̸ ̀͞w̸a̶̛҉nt ̵͢ţ͢h͜e͏ḿ t͟o̸ ̀s͢͝t̵́͘o͘͡p?̷͟͞ ҉̀r̸̷̢e͘s͏̀e̷t͜ ͏f̵͢͡o̸͜͝r̴ ͢me̵.̵” he suggest to Frisk. Sans couldn’t go all out, right when he just made her forget the bad memories that was forced unto her. Dianne blurs back to reality, with a scratch on her face. Her opponent blurs back as well, as he stands firm to the ground. “ **Don’t…hurt…her…** ” a sign of a struggle; he shook his head at the moment, and before he regains focus he was whipped with the rogue’s chainblades.

                Frisk couldn’t deal with being a helpless child anymore in their situation. Seeing her friends put up an effort to protect her, fills her with **DETERMINATION**. Gaster was about to grab hold of Frisk’s injured hand, but was repelled by an overwhelming red light. Her heart glows in pure red, forcing the pale man to get back. “Everyone, switch opponents!” Frisk said out loud. Dianne looks back, “Understood, your highness!” she said with no regards. Papyrus looks back and replies with a thumbs up, “YOU GOT IT, FRISK!” while Sans nods without looking back. “done zo.” This time, Dianne is facing the blind driver, Papyrus is facing the half-paralyzed guard, and Sans faces the dark warrior.

                Dianne blurs away, and in an instant she storms her chain blades around her opponent and shackled him down. “Too easy…” she taunts, as she does her rogue stance from behind her opponent. Next up was Papyrus. The guard wasn’t giving him any slack, and the shots fired at him can fracture a part of a building. But with him dodging the attacks at the most ridiculous ways: twirling and jumping up high like a ballerina while bullets pass through centimeter-close shots, tap dancing from side to side while saying “ARIBA ARIBA AHAHAHAH!” like a mexican skeleton dancer, and lastly doing a fast wall run and back flipping made his attacker hesitate. “ ** _This isn’t…. Matrix—_** “ Papyrus was just below the guard, and swings his special bone unto him. As he knocks out his opponent in mid-air, a number of bones diagonally waved towards the guard.

                The opponent lands flat on the bones, but wasn’t punctured. The guard struggles to stand, but because he couldn’t control his legs very well, he’s down for the count. The bones that rose up sinks in, and new blue ones went through the guard. “DON’T MOVE, IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU.” he shakes his index finger at him, giving him only one migraine-inducing warning. Lastly, Sans faces the shadow form of Rance Vor, with Frisk besides the short skeleton. “kid, you need to steer clear. he's—“ Frisk shook her head in disagreement. It looks like she has a plan in mind. “Papyrus, what time is it?” she asks out loud. The warrior tilts his head in question; from there Papyrus rushed in with a plate of his home-made spaghetti out of nowhere. Dianne couldn’t comprehend where he even got that plate.

                The warrior blurs, while a heavy rush is going for the kill. “Block to the side, and then advance!” Frisk said. Sans made a thick bone appear at the side, and just as predicted Rance swings sideward with the base instead of the blade. The short skeleton takes a step forward, just before the warrior breaks the bone with a wide swing. He blurs again, and this time Frisk didn’t say a word. “kid what next—“ the warrior rushes in towards the child and did a number of impale strikes. She easily dodged them to the side, going to Sans’ direction. “Block.” A diagonal swing was immediately blocked by the short skeleton’s bone attack.

                “Papyrus, go for it!” Frisk calls for help. Papyrus rushes in with his plate of spaghetti. The next attack from Dark Rance was about to hit her with his bladed spear, but Dianne got lashed around him with another set of chain blades. “You’re not laying a finger on her, you imposter!” she pulls him strong, forcing him to drop his spear to the ground as he was sent flying. Her pull down made her opponent crash land to the solid ground, making him gash out blood from his mouth. Dianne didn’t hesitate to pull him at full strength, sending him towards Papyrus. Sans stops the flight midway, making the chained warrior levitate in mid-air. “HERE COMES MY SPECIAL SPAGHETTI, WITH VITAMIN GREAT PAPYRUS!” he takes the fork full of pasta, and shoves it on Dark Rance’s mouth.

                The warrior lets out cold sweat, and a despair-induced and disgusted facial reaction, all while he was being fed with Papyrus’ spaghetti. “OH MY, WHAT EXPRESSION. YOU MUST LOVE MY COOKING SO MUCH!” Dark Rance muffles in disagreement, as his mouth was completely full. He couldn’t even spit it out, since he got fed while doing so. It looks like he’s sick, but the only way for him to get rid of the spaghetti in his mouth is by swallowing it. With one swallow, it all went down. It didn’t take long before the warrior lose consciousness, while Sans slowly puts him down.

                Frisk approach the darkened warrior, and touched his neck. The dark aura producing from the impostor dissipates, and soon after the dark warrior disappears. She rushed to the other two, and the same thing happened. It looks like a complete victory for them, thanks to Frisk’s heed. Gaster appears up front again, and this time he stood quietly. The anger inside him boils down, and then with just one word, he lets loose a number of dark tentacles from beneath him. “f̢̢u̕͞t̶̕͘͠͠i̴͢͞l̸̕è́̀.̷̢”

                Papyrus blocks the way, instead of letting his bone attacks block for him. “Papyrus, no!” Frisk cries out. Sans was about to cast his warp, but he couldn’t. The wind around them felt very heavy, all while the pale man’s attacks approaches. “I WON’T LET HIM HURT ANYONE EVER AGAIN!” The child rushes in, and then grabs hold of the black tentacles. One of them already grips Papyrus’ leg, while the rest were on Frisk. A surge of numbers went inside the tall skeleton’s head, and before he realized it, he remembered what Sans said. Their past, the timeline flux anomaly, and some of the forgotten resets. Dianne jumps to the air, and spins with her chain blades like a windmill. The tentacles were being weeded out. The pain of his tentacles being cut off distracted him from doing anything, while in mid-air, she took out the silver revollver hidden behind her back an points at Gaster. “This is for Sven…!”

                She fired one shot, and it went through his supposed heart. The rogue knew that it wouldn’t do much to that monster, so she poured her anger out by firing all seven towards him. All were body shots; it forced the pale man to flinch back and fall to the ground like a man shot to death. The dark tentacles disappear like ash being blown away, while his eyes blink a number of times. At his state, it would only take one of strike for them to actually kill Gaster. Papyrus stands idly, while Sans walks up to his brother to check on him. Dianne draws out one of her blades and looks at Frisk. “Your highness, if you may. One word, and I will take his miserable life out, and end this problem.” She wants to take revenge, but she wants the child to make a decision for her.

                Frisk shook her head and said, “No. That won’t solve anything.” She decides to give him mercy, even after the traumatic experience she was fed up with. “Your highness! This man had abducted a large number of people yesterday. We can’t let him take any more—“ Dianne tries to reason, but Frisk interrupts her. “Killing him won’t bring them back.” Through bravery, she approached the pale man, and held his hole hand. Knowing that everyone can make mistakes, as well as knowing that they could redeem themselves in the future, fills her with **DETERMINATION**. She learned that lesson from her father and Rance’s actions. Her whole body glows in red, as well as Gaster’s.

                Gaster lays down, and looks at the child he tries to take away. “w͘҉h̶y̶̛?͏̨͏” he asks smoothly. The child gives a warm smile, “because you’ve been alone for so long. I realize that when you took me by force… Maybe one day… Instead of taking us to fill the hole in your heart, we could be… friends.” Gaster is confused. He did so many bad things to her, and to other people, and monsters, that he couldn’t understand what she’s trying to say. “I ̀can̢'̸t͜ uǹder͝st̵a̸nd̸.” The light in his eye sockets fade away, while some parts of his body are starting to turn to turn transparent. The hand Frisk was holding went through, as his whole body disappeared like a bad memory.

                Sans looks at Papyrus in the eye socket, and before he could ask a question, the tall skeleton falls back to the ground. “hey pap, are you alright?” he grabs hold of the tall skeleton’s shoulders while shaking him awake. When Papyrus looks at the short skeleton, he said. “I…. REMEMBER NOW…” he stood up, and then walks toward Frisk. “I THINK, I LEARNED HOW TO USE ANOTHER ABILITY.” He said unsure, while he held his head in pain. He closed his eye sockets for a moment, all while numbers surge into his head. When he opens his eyes, the whole place had normal colors again.

* * *

 

                He was at the entrance way of West City Hospital with Sans. And then it didn’t take long before Dianne arrives with Frisk; her hands were cuffed to Dianne’s as the child begs, “Let me go!” Papyrus looked confused, did he had a dream of what will happen, or was it all just an illusion? “hey pap, you alright?” the short skeleton asks. Frisk noticed that something’s wrong with the tall skeleton. “HUH, WEREN’T WE … SOMEWHERE?” he sounds unsure. “I don’t think so. Were you two fooling around the hospital while I was away?” Dianne nags back. “looks like pap needs some more rest.” he gladly suggest. “hey, do they have that sweet tea here?” Sans was referring to the Jade Dragonfruit tea.

                Dianne seems to get the message that Papyrus might be having the symptoms. “Sure, let’s go to the Cafeteria. Come along, your Highness.” She suggest, as Frisk looks at the side, and crosses her hands with a frown. Dianne checks her phone. The time is 6:47AM. They went to the hospital’s cafeteria, where the food is just as sad as the crippled, Sans thought. Dianne lead the skeleton brothers to the counter, while the rogue and child had taken notice of Toriel and Doc Mercy having a conversation.

                Bianca then joins the conversation, but when Toriel noticed that Frisk was cuffed with Dianne, she looked at the doctor and nurse and said, “Pardon me for a moment.” She rushes to the rogue with a stern expression. “Young Dianne, what is the meaning of this?” the caretaker crossed her hands as she asked. “Oh, this… I had to secure her so that she wouldn’t disappear from my sight as I watch over.” She reasoned, but it wasn’t a satisfactory reasoning. The caretaker grabs hold of Frisk’s cuff and tore it like it was nothing. The sound of metal clang to the ground echoed, while Dianne’s eyes widen, surprised by Toriel’s strength.

                “There there, young one. Such a child should not be put in shackles.” She gives sympathy, while Frisk goes along with a hug. Toriel knows what to do and say. She looks at the time, it is now 6:49AM. “Oh my, will you look at the time. We must meet up with your father and the others.” Frisk seems to have loosen up, as she walks with Toriel. Dianne took a key from her pocket and removed her own cuffs, as she follows through.

                Papyrus just finished drinking the tea, and gives a relaxed sigh. “WOWIE, THAT WAS SOME GOOD TEA.” He said, while Sans tells him. “let’s go, pap.” the short skeleton pulls his brother to the exit, but just before they pass the door way, Papyrus stopped his brother with a question. “HEY SANS…. CAN WE, DISCUSS SOMETHING? THIS IS… AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT MATTER.” Judging from how low Papyrus said it, even though it is still loud, Sans felt a cold chill on his spine. “we can talk at the limo, let’s go—“ Papyrus snaps with a loud stomp, that the Doc Mercy and everyone else in the room turned their attention to the two skeletons. “DAMMIT SANS, THIS IS ABOUT YOU KEEPING SECRETS! WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO THE HUMANS LAST NIGHT, AND WHY ARE THEY IN THAT STATE?” Papyrus said it out loud, that the nurse had to approach them.

                “Is there something wrong, you two?” Bianca asks in concern. The mood in the cafeteria just went grimmer, after Sans had a reality shock that his brother knew something about what happened last night. “THE HUMAN DRIVER LOST HIS EYESIGHT, THEN THE GUARD LOST HIS ABILITY TO WALK. NOW, WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN ROYAL GUARD?” the fact that he remembered his disillusioned encounters in the other side of reality, even though it might serve as a dream to him. It was vivid enough to convince him. The heat is on the short skeleton, as he needs to explain what really happened. On the other side of the reality, the driver’s eyes were letting out black aura as he cries in blindness, the guard’s lower body was drenched in black as he could only move when he’s not hurt. Lastly, the warrior was fully consumed with dark aura. Why is that? Papyrus couldn’t understand why.

                There were cries outside the hospital, and several explosions. Chairs moved a bit due to the tremor, as some lights went dim. Bianca looks around, as the people were shaken. A familiar flower smiles at the corner, and then disappears. Doc Mercy and some of the crew are performing an evac on the hospital, as the tremors and explosions from outside are getting worse.

                The skeleton brothers rushed outside, and just at the south western part of the hospital where there is a four way traffic road, pillars of fire rise up with a familiar fire monster wreaking havoc.

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Dark Lies... Darker Illusions... Yet Darker Truths...** How'd you like the roller coaster ride? It looks like Papyrus has more in store than meets the eye. Stay tune for the next main story chapter update of Seed of Flowey.


	18. Dark Lies, Darker Illusions, yet Darker Truths (part three)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post, guys. I got caught up with some inconveniences that my writing for this chapter has been sluggish. ~~2016 is both the best and worst years to live in.~~ Other than that, motivation tanks were also running very low. Enjoy the final part of " **Dark Lies, Darker Illusions, Yet Darker Truths**."

                At the south west of the West City Hospital, around 6:54AM. In the middle of a four-way traffic road, large fire pillars reaching to the second floor of the buildings block off all three sides but the northern side of the road. Grillby out of nowhere makes a scene, by terrorizing drivers and some guards. Police officers are doing their best in maintaining order, as they have safely evacuated and kept the civilians’ away from the infernal events. A helicopter with a logo sign ‘Channel 4 NEWS’ arrives to the scene and watches form above. While firefighters from all four cities are making their way to the scene.

                King Farlon enters the battlefield, along with Rance, King Asgore and Toriel. “Grillby, what is the meaning of this?” King Asgore asks aloud, as he swings his other hand wide. Runes appeared in mid-air, extinguishing the flames almost instantly before popping like heavy bubbles.

Grillby looks at the king with an intent to engage combat, as his flames crackle. “I ask you to stand down.” Asgore warns him, but there are no signs of him yielding. A guard gives Rance a metal bo staff, as he nods in thanks. King Farlon unsheathes his rapier, and Toriel looks at the fire monster in concern. The monster king furrow his brows as he makes one last warning. “I said, stand down.” He pulls out his red trident from behind his cape in quick succession. Grillby slams both hands to the ground, as pillars of fire came up from the street pavements, destroying open roads and preventing those who are caught inside from running away.

                “It looks like there’s no way around it.” Rance said. The pillars of fire blocked everything from coming in, and the heat will kill everyone if they will not do anything about it. The flames are about half a meter thick in diameter, and with its intensity, it drains away the oxygen inside the ring. Dianne could not join in since she had to look after Frisk. Toriel did not knew what she‘d get herself into, and now she is trapped with the rest. The skeleton brothers are late, as they just exited the Hospital. “You two!” the rogue calls from afar, while the child follows. “There’s a flaming monster in a bartender suit that’s wreaking havoc outside.”

                “NYEH?” Papyrus looks from the distance, and saw a tall pillar of fire. “OH MY GOD! WHAT IS GOING ON?” Dianne gets the feeling that the tall skeleton does not know anything at all. Then, the attention shifts to Sans. “fire monster in a bartender suit… what’s grillby doing here?” Frisk turns back. “Oh no. Grillby might have been hit by Flowey’s seed…!” every one of them looked back as the flames continue to stand tall. It shows no sign of calming down at all. The drivers exited their cars, as they came to aid the princess. “Your highness, it is not safe here.” the first one spoke. “We must evacuate you—“ the second one speaks, but he was interrupted by Sans raising a hand.

                “y’two could really help the elderly and sick. we'll take care of this.” It sounded less assuring, but Dianne takes a nod at them. The two are about to exit the hospital to help. However, before they did, they both turned around and said coordinated, **“We’ll be back for the king and the princess.”** Frisk rushes into one of the limousines, and looks around. Sans and Papyrus are about to exit the arc way of the hospital grounds, while Dianne aids Frisk. After looking around, Frisk found herself a brown leather umbrella. “Got it.” Frisk obtains and equips [ **Tenth Inc. Umbrella** ].

* * *

 

                There are no more crowds, and police officers are blocking other routes that lead to the event. Firefighters had a rough time with traffic, and to make it worse, it has been 5 minutes since the enclosing began. “You must not participate in such a dangerous fight!” Dianne scolds the child. “YES, YOU DO NOT NEED TO PARTICIPATE IN SUCH A DANGEROUS FIGHT.” Papyrus agrees with the rogue. “kid, you’ve been through enough fights. It’s time you let the adults play their game.” Sans jests while he raised his hand just above shoulders.

                In the midst of chaos and situation, Frisk refuse to let herself not get involved in this. “No, I don’t want anyone to die in this situation. My father and the rest might have the idea of killing Grillby, and I won’t allow it.” the short skeleton sees her eyes brimming with Determination. She has a plan, Sans can assume. “you have a plan, frisk?” he asks while approaching the child as he puts both hands on his sweater pockets. Frisk nods once with her eyes shimmering as she smiles. “Frisk, please don’t do anything reckless. This is for your sake.” The rogue gives her concern, but it looked like the child wouldn’t back down without a [ **FIGHT** ]. Sans lowers his head, while Frisk puts her hand over the side of the skeleton’s cheekbone and whispered something.

                The short skeleton gives thumbs up with the child’s plan, while the rogue and tall skeleton are left with just a glance from the other two. Papyrus graves down; the two are keeping something again, and it pains him not to know. “YOU TWO, WHAT ARE YOU—“ Papyrus asks, but he was interrupted with a ball of fire coming towards him. Frisk immediately opens up the umbrella, and shields the tall skeleton with it. The fireball bounces towards the tree within the hospital grounds, burning it almost immediately. “WHAT THE, WHAT ARE YOUR UMBRELLAS MADE OF?!” It is unusual for one umbrella to be made of leather, let alone should it able to bounce away a ball of fire.

                “The Tenth Inc. makes surprisingly durable tents and umbrellas. Like the tents back at the camp, the umbrella can allow you to see through it, but the other side is thick.” Dianne gives her explanation with hand gestures. Frisk closes the umbrella, and then holds Sans’ hand. “hey pap, we’re gonna give you coordinate numbers. be ready for our call. oh, and put out that fire over there.” Sans points with his right thumb at the burning tree towards his back right. Papyrus rushes in to stop his brother from moving on his own accord with Frisk, but with the snap of the short skeleton’s fingers he warps out.

                He jumped right when they disappear, making him fall on the pavement road like an idiot. Papyrus slams both clenched hands on the ground, “DAMMIT SANS, WHY CAN’T YOU TRUST ME WITH THIS?!” Dianne would have done the same, but because she abides the royal household, even if it goes against the King’s wishes to let his daughter go on a dangerous task, she did not stop her. Instead, the rogue approaches the tall skeleton in tears and offers a hand. “I can’t really know why they get along pretty well. But judging from her determined decision, she’s willing to go to extremes to stop this.” Papyrus accepts the offer, and wipes away his tears with his red scarf. With a few sniffles and tear wipes, he looks at Dianne; her expression is dead sharp on the fire pillars. She seems to have caught up something.

 

                The fire that engulfed the middle of a four-way traffic road still rages from the outside, and from the inside, the ring is more infernal than it is on the out. The way it absorbs the oxygen from the outside makes it difficult to breathe with the present heat, and with the flames, charring whatever that is inside should make the ground burning hot. Whilst the situation should have fried or melted anything from the inside within less than a minute, that does not apply to people and monsters who possess extraordinary endurance.

                [Corrupted Grillby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuPB6ucSLfI) continues to fume out flames as he cross hand to hand with North, Rance. While Asgore and Farlon strikes him simultaneously; from one hack, thrust and slash did they come from the sides. In addition, with the human king’s unique three-slashing rapier did it make the fire monster dodge with precaution. Toriel on the other hand is supporting from the back, by using magic that helps maintain the conditions of everyone inside the infernal arena. Her magic to cool down Farlon’s rapier, Rance’s iron spear, and the rest of the guards’ weapons, while maintaining a cold meter at their body temperatures preventing them from burning like a matchstick are impeccable, but with the duration of the battle she’s reaching her limits.

                The guards who are on the sideline fires only when a certain trajectory opens up, without wounding the three important persons in combat. However, even when they do get a lock on, the bullets melt away into liquid metal, and evaporates almost immediately. Should they come close would only hinder the attack pattern the three skilled fighters; they are useless. In a blink of an eye, a familiar child and a short skeleton appears at the side of the caretaker. “Frisk, Sans! Why are you—gah!” she immediately waves her hands, engulfing the two with protection magic.

                Frisk and Sans made an appearance with only an umbrella and a cellphone. From there, Toriel is focusing more of her mana in maintaining everyone’s life. “hey tori, rem-ember—“ Sans was about to break a pun, but Toriel snaps back at them. “Sans, would you please take Frisk out of this mess?!” she’s on the verge of running out of focus, while the heat is starting to get to her. “looks like the guards are useless here. mind if i show them the exit?” he politely asks. Toriel gives a nod, while she breathes hard. It only took him one snap of his fingers, and the guards have disappeared.

                The caretaker immediately approaches the child, with a heed “Stay close to me, my child!” From Toriel’s words, all four turned their attention to Frisk. Grillby’s darkened half slowly consumes the other while a red smile and round eyes starts to form. King Farlon’s voice thundered as he approached his daughter, “What on hell-blazes are you doing here?! Weren’t you supposed to be under Dianne Vor’s care?!” With his guard lowered, while the monster king and the warrior paused to the child’s attention, the fire monster rolled up a dark red ball of fire, and threw it at the human king. It was a rookie mistake for everyone to pause for her, but Frisk did not give any time for hesitation.

                She rushed in immediately up front while he turns back, and opened her umbrella up front. Before the ball touched the surface, she spins it clockwise on her direction as fast as possible. Thanks to her [ **ACT** ] her father was saved. Farlon, Frisk and Toriel turned their attention to Asgore. The monster king violently swipes his trident at the corrupted fire monster, as he mentions, “I apologize for the lack of support. The attack Grillby unleashed had Dark element mixed into it.” The flames around them are starting to take effect, while their opponent is still at his peak. For some time now, Rance has not used his signature speedy footwork, not that the magic that supports him should hinder him. However, he decides to fight at a normal pace.

                Grillby’s attempt to eliminate the human king while his back was turn; taking advantage of the situation is making Asgore lose his cool. On top of that, Toriel is about to lose conscious with her supporting them for a period. “Grillby, I do not understand why you would do such actions. But it’s time you stop.” With a calm tone of voice, his fiery red trident discharges a blue spark of light. As soon as the light fades, his trident became light aqua blue, with it producing icy vapors. It didn’t take long before the mist and the heat had mixed, and the flames around starts to weaken.

                With a wave of his trident, the flaming pillars around them froze into solid crystal, while the massive heat instantly became cold. Grillby drops into a complete disadvantage, as the flames he tries to bring back either dissipates or turns into an icicle. Everyone else in the arena were shocked from the sheer cold and the true power of the ruler of the Underground. Frisk shivers from the cold, as Toriel approaches to comfort her. She switched her cold body magic support to heat body magic support, to maintain everyone else’s condition. King Farlon did not falter from the flash freeze spell, but Rance got cold almost immediately. “You’ve wasted my daughter’s precious time. It’s time for you to **disappear**.” The human king’s threatening tone of voice gives Toriel a sign of danger.

                Two kings are lead to a merciless stance against the weakened fire monster, and it looks like the warrior waits for commands at the side. “Rance Vor, **stand down.** ” King Farlon gives a grave expression, as he takes a number of steps, slowly approaching Grillby. Asgore goes walks to the other side, staring daggers at their opponent. No words were given, while the flame head of the bartender crackles. Frisk can feel the vicious intentions her father gives, while the other gives a regretful feeling. The first move goes to Farlon with a short scratch on the frozen ground to his rapier, and into the opponent. The cold fused with the metal blades, and tore Grillby’s vest in an instant.

                The seconds comes from a sideward direction, but the flaming bartender takes a step back to dodge, only for Asgore’s frozen trident to graze his sides; the merciless advance continues with no pause. Their attacks are simultaneous and synchronized, that Grillby staggers to the edge of the arena. Only to be cornered by the solidity of the ice pillars. His dark flames can no longer extinguish the ice, and he is on the verge of being snuffed out. The wounds he accumulated are giving him massive frostbites. Rance could only watch from the side, while Toriel kneels down to the ground and looks away in fear, while she covers the child’s eyes from seeing such a violent scenario. Without hesitation, Frisk takes out her phone from her pocket and dialed in the numbers. A few rings and someone picks up.

                At that moment, Frisk immediately shouted “Now!” to the phone as the caretaker looks at the child’s expression. In a split second, before the two kings would have finished off Grillby, blue caging bones have appeared to block the way in preventing any more advancements. Moreover, bigger pillar bones have erected from below the base of each ice pillars, and have spun around them to shatter the frozen blockade. As soon as the ice has been grinded, they have sunk back into the ground. King Asgore and King Farlon have looked back, to see the two skeletons at the north roadway, with their right hand up and their eye sockets glowing in their respective colors, working together to save Grillby. “THAT’S ENOUGH, YOUR HIGHNESSES.” Papyrus makes his call, while taking up the coolest moment he could ever have. From the west side of the four-way traffic road, where the corrupted fire monster was caged and cornered, a number of large white magical fire ball has bombarded Grillby directly from above.

                The fire monster moves in confusion within the cage, as the white flame consumes him; the black parts of him are fading into ashes. In the midst of confusion and as the two kings look back at their opponent, chain blades flung towards them from the east side and bound the two. King Farlon glanced at the chains, and immediately recognized them. He takes a step to the side to look back, and saw Dianne holding her part of the chains from her retractable pouch, “I apologize, King Farlon and King Dreemurr.” She looks at them in concern, while noticing a white line in their eyes.

                The intent to kill is written in their faces; it’s not right for the human king to have them at this year of peace. The same goes for the merciful monster king of the underground. The warrior continues to observe at the south eastern part of the road way, while to the north of the road way are where Frisk and Toriel are, as the skeleton brothers are further from them. King Farlon struggles to get free, as Dianne begs to them. “Please, no more!” she pulls her chains tighter on them; the king stops doing so. From behind Dianne, a heavy green tank guard have walks in and grabs both Dianne’s upper arm along with the chains.

                “I apologize, my friend.” Without warning, he pulls back the two kings away from the fight with all his strength. The situation is getting crazy; King Farlon closed his eyes while in mid-air, trying to grasp the situation at hand: blue bones protected Grillby possibly by Sans, big bones breaking the ice pillars possibly by Papyrus, white flames consuming Grillby from an unknown monster, chains tied them by Dianne, pulled away from the fight area by Darvenshel. And then, he realized the final phase. He opened his eyes in realization, and looks back. “Frisk, no! You’ll burn yourself!” he shouted, but it was too late. “North, stop my daughter!” he commanded, before he and King Asgore landed on his metal plating arms. Dianne blurs away, leaving her retractable chain blade pouch to the green tank.

                Incredibly, Darvenshel was able to catch the two kings, even with one that is bigger and heavier than he is. His feet are firmly planted to the road way ground, while the impact pushed him a bit; something snaps out loud before he carefully puts them down. Meanwhile, a violet bone had made contact with the caretaker, forcing her to drop down to the ground due to its gravitational effects. while Frisk came running towards Grillby with an umbrella at hand. Rance had a sign to stop her from doing anything reckless as he blurs away from the scene. The child knows that she’s going to get snatched away at any moment, as she runs toward danger. In a blink of an eye, Dianne appeared behind her with another set of chain blades. She blurs away again, and reappears at the middle with Rance chained on the ground.

                Another violet bone appears in front of the warrior, and went pass through his body. He felt his weight became extremely heavy, as he drops down with half his face and the rest of him glued to the ground. “Now, Frisk!” Dianne turns her attention to the child running towards the fire monster. As soon as the white flames dissipate, Sans snaps his fingers and the blue bones have sunk into the ground. Grillby is now at a vulnerable state, standing idly with his head looking down. Frisk leaps forward with her body glowing in bright red. Frisk catches the fire monster with a tight hug, and both their bodies have glow into bright red. The light illuminates like a bright beacon; her Determination to [ **SAVE** ] someone caught everyone’s attention.

                “Are you seeing this?!” The news reporter asks as she faces the camera. The News Helicopter continues to fly by, streaming the current events to everyone. Everyone in the Human capital, as well as the monster capital stopped what they were doing, only to watch an insane live footage of what is happening at the West City. In the eyes of those who are present, they see Rance Vor bound by his sister, Dianne. But to everyone else who are watching the news, they see [someone entirely different](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuPB6ucSLfI).

* * *

 

                Meanwhile at the West City Hospital’s surveillance room, Bianca and a fat security guard are browsing the Security footage. “Are you sure you weren’t just seeing things during the panic?” the fat guard suggests as he eats a donut. His gun and badge are laid on the table on the right, next to the computer mouse. The nurse shook her head in disagreement, “There was a weird flower at the cafeteria just when the tremors started to occur. Go to 6:56AM mark at camera 22.” She was rather irritated that nobody else noticed a weird flower by the counter. The fat guard scrolls to the time, and clicked the suggested camera. There they saw the two skeletons arguing, as the rest took noticed. When the lights flickered, the cafeteria man turns green. A few seconds later, after the lights have flickered, the man turned into a flower. It didn’t take long before that person turns back into someone else, and then had walked away.

                 “[There!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB8o_VdvFpk) The flower that I mentioned. It turned into someone else.” She points out to the monitor, the guard looks at that person and recognizes that person. He tips up his cap up as he recalls something. “Hey, that’s Carlson! He hadn’t showed up to work for three days.” Bianca looks at the guard and asks him, “You mean that selfie newcomer?” the guard returns a glance, confused as to why he’s at the cafeteria. “I didn’t even see him go through the entrance door.” The suggestion got things more confusing. He rewinds the time for a bit. At camera 7, at the front entrance of the hospital. The King and everyone else were about to enter the cars, when Bianca immediate pressed the spacebar of the keyboard.

                Among the rest of the people who were with them, only one stands out to be as someone else. A pale bald man with cracks on his face, on his black suit. It was Gaster, the one described by the blinded driver, as well as a known acquaintance of the monsters. “Oh no…” If she recalls correctly, among everyone King Farlon was supposed to be with are: King Asgore, Toriel Dreemurr, Rance Vor, Dianne Vor, Frisk, Papyrus, and Sans. The early candidates were only the Dreemurrs, Rance, and the King himself.

                The fat guard radios the other who are in the hospital to be aware of Carlson, and without warning Bianca took the gun on the table, and ran out of the room as fast as possible. She knows who Gaster just portrayed [as](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB8o_VdvFpk).

* * *

 

                Things have calmed down, and Grillby lays flat on the ground. His usual flame colors have returned to normal, while the two kings have calmed down. The violet bone that hits Toriel had ejected her, as she regains her strength to stand up. Frisk walks back to the care taker with her equipped item at hand. As soon as Toriel stands up and dusted her robe, she faces the child. “My child, you shouldn’t be so reckless.” She scolds her, but Sans approached Toriel from behind and supports her, “chill, tori. frisk planned the situation.” The short skeleton gets a head pound from Papyrus as he scolds his brother. “IF YOU ONLY MENTIONED IT EARLIER, THEN WE WOULDN’T BE SO WORRIED!” Dianne joins them as she agrees with Papyrus.

                “Sans only told us the plan as soon as he went out of there without Frisk.” She mentioned with a scolding look at the child. “She told us that there was something wrong with Grillby, as well as Rance. That’s why he only told Sans at first.” The rogue crosses her arms, and glares at the short skeleton. Frisk obviously didn’t prepare it all, Dianne thought. Papyrus cuts off, “AND WITH LAZY BONES’ UNMENTIONED ABILITY TO MEMORIZE THE AREA LENGTHS, HE PINPOINTED WHERE TO STRIKE.” As Sans rubs his head to comfort. “i'm sure you noticed something wrong with your brother. no?” Sans mentions. They look back at the warrior sitting down, chained helplessly. Dianne went to her brother, and pulled the chains on him tighter. “Knowing my brother, out of all the words he could say, he would never tell this with his highness: It looks like there’s no way around it.”

                A familiar child in armor joins them, “Rance, are you okay?” Dreas rushes in without knowing the situation. Frisk notices him and run towards him without hesitation. “As- I mean, Dreas!” her words almost slipped, which made the rogue give suspicion towards the trainee. Darvenshel, King Asgore, and King Farlon have met up to the middle. Asgore heard Frisk’s misinterpreted words, “Frisk, what did you just say?” Toriel, Sans, and Papyrus joins them; the short skeleton is keeping an eye socket on the chained warrior. Frisk turns back, while Dreas nervously shakes. “Uhh, this is my friend.” She suggests with a forced grin. “I-uh.. Ah.. Howdy—I mean, hello. My name is Dreas Liem. I am Frisk’s new friend!” The trainee nervously spoke out. The fact that he gets to see his real parents, while hiding the fact that he’s their son makes him nervous.

                “May I ask why my mentor is chained?” he’s not aware of the situation. Neither are the kings and the caretaker. From behind, Bianca is running towards them with a pistol at both hands. “Dianne! Get away from him!” Rance stays silent as his head twitches at certain seconds. The rogue saw the nurse with a gun, and took it as a threat. “Bianca, stop!” the rogue turns her attention to the other. She readies her chain blades, thinking that the nurse will open fire. “That’s not Rance! He’s—“ the warrior turns his head toward the nurse with eyes purely black.

                Little black ashes come out from his shirt, and without warning, several black spikes have come out of his shadow. Sans took an early initiative in warping everyone, including the incapacitated Grillby away from him to the Northern road way, as the shadows were about several feet in length. The day of hostility is not yet over for everyone. If he didn’t make a move, everyone would have been impaled. Dianne clenched her right arm as she kneels down in pain, as it got to scratch her. “Oh my god, Dianne!” the nurse cries out. Rance stood up with a grave expression. Everyone was surprised that something came out of nothing.

                Darvenshel and Toriel rushed to the [injured rogue](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQz1Ilgy4IQ), and took a look at the wound. It was a clean flesh cut. if the warp was delayed, her arm would have cut to the bone. “ **I must say, Experiment S-01. Your initiative ability has improved.** ” The voice was different. Sans frowns nervously, “i thought i got rid of you from that meat puppet’s body. but it looks like you…” Papyrus’ suspicion was correct. Something wasn’t right about him, after his encounters at the other side of reality. “That man, is Gaster! He took his appearance and fooled everyone. But the security cameras revealed your true form!” Bianca advances and points the pistol at him. She continues speaking, “Rance is at the hospital in his room, resting. But he won’t wake up. What did you do to him?!” Dianne looks back at the hospital, concerned about her brother’s condition.

                The impostor didn’t speak at first, only to mock her. “ **Oh, were you saying something?** ” Bianca open fires with arms shaking. Not one landed a shot, even when her target wasn’t moving. Papyrus threw a bone at him, directly at his face, only for it to stop before it could touch him. “ **Experiment P-02. You are a disappointment.** ” He insults Papyrus, while bending down to take a solid rock of ice. “ **Disappear.** ” He stood up slowly, and threw it at lightning speed. With Dianne injured, she cannot deflect the attack. The projectile was heading for the tall skeleton’s costume torso, only for it to be deflected by Frisk’s opened umbrella. She successfully blocks another attack. “ **I must say, child who holds Determination. Yours is much stronger than the other.** ” He spoke to commend, but also to insult the other child, Chara.

                King Asgore and Toriel takes a step forward, asking the imposter. “Doctor Gaster, why are you doing this?!” the fake Rance frowns at them with eyes that despise anyone. “ **Finishing what I failed to accomplish.** ” He blinks at front, and knocked Toriel with great force. It sent her flying towards a brick wall. The monster king immediately waved his hand to cast a magic, slowing down Toriel’s impact. But with his opponent at point blank, the imposter’s shadow spikes up, and impaled his right shoulder. Asgore kneels down while holding his wounded shoulder.

                Bianca aims her gun at him, only to realize that she ran out of ammunition. She got smacked in the face, as she yelps in pain before falling to the pavement road. Sans snaps his fingers and made a row of bones rush towards him. But the imposter made a black aura spear appear from the ground, and swings it at full force. It created a black wave of energy which easily cuts off the bones. Immediately, the short skeleton snaps his fingers again, and teleported everyone to the left side. “how is he this powerful.” Sans bends down in exhaustion. “SANS!” Papyrus was concern, as he held his brother’s shoulder. Darvenshel and King Farlon are the only ones left standing to defend. Dreas couldn’t do anything to help; he can’t fight the imposter with the lack of physical combat experience, and if he uses magic, it will blow his cover.

                Darvenshel took out his massive crossbow, and fired one large wooden arrow at the imposter only for it to stop before it touched his forehead. King Farlon rushed in and pushed the arrow through with a palm strike. It got his eye, but there was no blood. The fake Rance snaps his fingers, and made the projectile reappear where the King stands. But Farlon didn’t stop his movements, as he went to the side and performed a diagonal slash with his rapier. Only for his shadow spikes to block the attack. The imposter was about to impale the king, but Sans looks forward and snaps his fingers. The king reappears right at the green tank’s side.

                Toriel sticks to the wall slowly, and falls down at normal speed. As soon as she recovers, the caretaker looks back to see the monster king wounded. Asgore pulls out the black spike from his right shoulder, as dust was leaking out of it. She comes to aid the king, but with little mana left in her she could only heal him a little. “Hold on, as soon as I recover my magic. I’ll—“ raising her hand to the wound, Asgore held hers and said, “I’ll… be okay.” He grits his teeth in pain, but he gives a forced and bitter smile. Toriel turns her attention toward the imposter. “What do you want?!” she cries out.

                “ **What I want? Queen Toriel Dreemurr...** ” he stops and ponder at first. He glanced back at them and said, “ **Your son’s soul, the human child’s soul, and my two by-products**.” He refers to Frisk, Papyrus and Sans. But Asriel’s? Toriel was confused by his demands. “ **That other human, has a very powerful SOUL. This form’s original owner.** ” He suggests as he made a crimson read heart soul bound with black strings appear before them, and continues. “ **But I need… Frisk’s and Asriel’s—** “ Asgore snaps at him while the imposter was explaining. “Why would you want my child’s soul?!” The roar of Dreas' father made him step back in fear. Gaster knows that he’s alive, but everyone else who doesn’t are confused. King Farlon wouldn’t want his demands to be met. “You are NOT getting my daughter’s soul, you monster!” The imposter claps both hands, and creates a massive red wave of energy. It sent everyone else but Dreas and Frisk back.

                “ **Asriel and Frisk’s souls first.** ” The trainee and child cannot move from their spot, as if they are petrified. The fake Rance takes slow steps, while promoting fear of taking their souls. More guards have arrived late at the scene from both west and east roadway, and points their gun at the imposter. “Halt!” all of them have said. There were no signs of him stopping. They open fire at the fake Rance, only for him to clap once more. Sending everyone else flying back. King Farlon struggles to stand up from the ground, “Frisk…. Run…!” he wheezes before coughing out blood. Everyone who got hit and sent flying from the wave of energy were nailed to the ground, as if gravity had forced them down to the ground. Even the birds that were flying by fell down like rocks.

                The fake Rance is finally close to Frisk; she shook in fear as her life flashed before her very eyes. He reaches toward her chest, only for it to stop halfway. He froze where he stood, while his color turned black and white. Papyrus stood up with his hand raised towards the imposter. “THAT’S ENOUGH…. PLEASE…” He begs, with both his eyes brimming with orange aura. The tall skeleton’s frame is glowing in orange, while his heart SOUL’s color change to it. The soul of Bravery awakens from the monster, while unlocking a new power. In the critical moment, the bound crimson red soul struggles from within. It heard Papyrus’ plea for mercy.

                [Bianca](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ywWyLUSD2g), who was badly hurt from the wave struggles to stand. The crimson soul Gaster has is the warrior’s; she pleads. “Rance…. If you can hear, I know… that you’re stronger than this… So please, you’re the only one I know… who could stop Gaster…” her voice was faint, but the bound soul hears her cries. It glows like a beacon blinking. Dianne, stood slowly as the gravity pull force her not to. “Brother, Frisk… Don’t give up… Keep struggling…” in a blink of an eye, she stomps her foot to the ground as hard as possible and bit her lip. She forced what strength she has left and took out the silver revolver hidden behind her belt. Her eyes are dead serious and locked unto the imposter. “… This is for Sven…” with enough force, she fired a shot to the imposter’s forehead.

                The fake Rance blinks into Gaster’s original form, and used his telekinesis power to try and stop the silver bullet from piercing. But it punched through his forehead before his power envelop through the projectile. The black strings loosen, and the pale man’s time froze. Clock was ticking out loud while he is currently frozen. With the combined effort of their friends, Frisk and Asriel are filled with **Determination**. The energy waves that paralyzed them was nullified; they can move freely again. Gaster breaks the magic that stops him from moving, and casts several shadow spikes impaling from below. One spike forcibly knocks Dreas’ helmet off and his left shoulder plate, but he did not falter. The pale man reforms a black spear from his hole hands, and swings diagonally down at Frisk. But she immediately tightens her umbrella into a length weapon, and blocks the attack.

                Gaster is getting desperate with his actions, and judging from how the SOUL struggles to get free means that he can no longer control it. Black bones impale from the ground, along with the shadows. But Asriel swipes them with his short swords; they turn into dust upon contact. Frisk dodges the attack on her hand, and when she has the chance to [ **ACT** ] she calls out to Rance’s soul. The pale man has lost his focus and patience completely, as he creates a beam sword out of a small Gaster Beamer. He swipes his weapon towards Frisk in an opening, but Asriel didn’t hesitate to block it with both short swords crossed.

                “I won’t let you hurt my friend!” Asriel cries out. “Asriel!” she cries out with her red soul shining brightly. Asriel’s soul breaks into a Ruby Red color, and with both Determination combined, the weapon Gaster had made explodes in front of them. Hope’s Peak and Dream Sword flew from the blast while his front plate attachment and his ankle plate attachments were knocked off from his chest. The crimson red soul breaks free with a spark; everyone who were nailed to the ground were free from the magic’s pull.

                Darvenshel stood up first, while helping King Farlon up. Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr stood up next, and looked at Frisk and Dreas. They both heard the child call out their son’s name. Bianca struggles to stand up with her wounds from the impact with a relieved look on her face. Dianne, who was kneeling down this whole time falls down to the ground. She mustered too much of her strength to watch what happens, only for her to lose consciousness in the end. Papyrus helps up his brother in getting up, but to his surprise, the short skeleton fell asleep. “SANS! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WOULD FALL ASLEEP AT A TIME LIKE THIS!!” Papyrus shook his brother awake, while the weakened human king cringes from the tall skeleton’s voice.

                The rest of the soldiers are finally able to get up, but it wasn’t over yet. Gaster still stands with the soul he possessed free from his grasp. But he’s eyeing on the two unconscious children with their SOULS dyed in red. He limps toward them, with holed hands reaching out from both of them like a zombie looking for brains. In a short notice, there was a loud stomp that just passed by, and in a flash, the two children were brought to everyone else. A familiar warrior blurs back to solidity, and rallied everyone with the roar. “EVERYONE FIRE!” Rance returns with a vendetta, as the guards have followed orders. Every one of them open fired at the pale man, and not one bullet missed [him](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ywWyLUSD2g).

                Ten big Gaster Blasters, five in both East and West side of the road way have appeared just above the guards and brought the rain of lasers. After the public execution, everything came to a halt with no trace of the pale man. Sans clicked his teeth with a disappointed expression, while Papyrus looks at him in concern. “SANS, WHAT’S HAPPENING TO ME?” his white monster soul is still orange. The short skeleton had one eye socket look up in thought, “we should have you checked by dr. alphys.” The tall skeleton worries with what is happening, and when he waves his hand, Sans turned gray as he stops moving.

                He waves it again, and then Sans’ color returns to normal. “oh, hey pap. i think you learned how to use time magic.” The short skeleton is now worried of his brother’s condition, while the tall skeleton was brought with overwhelming joy. “WOWIE, NOW I CAN STOP YOU FROM RUNNING AWAY WHEN YOU CLEAN YOUR ROOM. NYEHEHEH” Sans grins back and said, “if i have the time for—“ the short skeleton turns gray again, but Papyrus failed to stop his brother from saying a pun.

                While Papyrus flips out, Asgore and Toriel slowly approached [Asriel and Frisk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVimErpiTKY), who are still knocked out from the impact. The two kneels down to their son, as the caretaker slowly brushed their son’s face. Rance picks up Frisk and said to her, “Thanks, you two.” His crimson red soul flickers, waking up the two unconscious children. “… Rance, is that you?” Frisk opens her eyes, with the sun shining on her face. She blocks it with her hand, while adjusting her sights on the person who is carrying her. Asriel wakes up with his parents blocking the light. “Asriel, our child…” The Dreemurr parents couldn’t hold back their happiness in tears; the reunion was not expected, but in the end the goat child broke down in tears. “M-mom… Dad…” rolling over and then standing up to hug them both, they broke down.

                Rance looks around to find her sister and the nurse on the ground. Both of them needs medical attention, and in a convenient coincidence the two drivers for the limousines arrived. “Hey, would you mind bringing Bianca and Dianne to the hospital?” A loud clap got his and the two’s attention. King Farlon looks at the warrior in disappointment, while Frisk turns her attention to her father. Rance puts her down, safely, as she runs toward her father. There was blood on his mouth, and with restless eyes, he is about ready to explode. Darvenshel pats his shoulder, forcing the king to look back. The green tank just shook his head with a frown.

                “Erhm…. Frisk, Rance, would you mind explaining why the Dreemurrs’ son is here with us… and well, armed…?” Darvenshel Bastille asks him in a calm and low tone of voice. Asgore and Toriel also look back at the warrior in question. “What…?” the monster king asks; the thought of the warrior keeping secrets about Asriel’s existence came into his thought. The green tank looks at Frisk as well, having the same feeling that she’s also keeping secrets.

                Asriel wipes his tears, as he stood up and walked to Rance’s left side. Frisk did the same to the right, while the adults had their attention to the three, who are guilty of something. The goat child sniffles for a moment, the human child rubs her left shoulder while looking away, and the warrior scratches his head. They all felt nervous about needing to clarify things, and to make matters worse, all three of them knew one another.

                They stop fidgeting when all three of them look directly, with their souls glowing in red, as they said in unison… “It’s a long story.”

* * *

 

The News Helicopter caught everything, and everyone who were watching were either in awe or confused. The news woman with the mic had no other words to say but “Did you get that on tape?” The cameraman just nodded. West City is in need of repairs, and the King of the Human Capital needs to explain the situation to the masses. The chaos that was brought up to all, and the confusing end results. Only one person or monster chuckles from behind the scenes. “ _All according to plan._ ”

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here asking, "was the strory ~~un~~ clear?" Gaster may have been defeated, but he's not done playing his role. By the by, three players have presented themselves in the mid-part of the story. We don't need to state their names now, do we?
> 
> You guys weren't expecting the return of the Violet Bones? Note that Sans and Papyrus aren't the usual skeletons you encounter. What about Asgore's ability to use **Ice Magic**? The Dreemurrs' are natural born masters of magic, emphasis on Asriel Dreemurr's previous magic usage, as well as his Hyperdeath form. Expect them to use more than just Fire and Ice.
> 
> I also have some sad news: I'm putting the story on Hiatus for about a week. With my thoughts all over the place ~~(like this story chapter)~~ , I need to refuel and refocus for the next upcoming events. And believe me, the next ones are more climactic than the previous ones. But in order for me to write and post them at the scheduled date, I need to recover.
> 
> Songs linked to the story are not mine; credits to the owner and artists who made them and the links redirect to the source. Give them support for making fantastic music remixes for Undertale, while some original soundtracks are from another game. 
> 
> PREVIEW:  
> From a distant land, on another country. One blonde powder-wig haired child in pure gray steel armor stands at the front edge of the metal ship. Standing a pose of a conqueror with a pride smug on his face. "Wait for me, my love. I, Cornellius Corvus the 3rd, will claim you soon enough." he declares with a fancy tone. The horizon extends to where he face, but the ship itself has not yet sailed. On his pocket journal, is a picture of Frisk in an edited wedding gown with him as her groom. The note below states "Three more days."


	19. Fall in Order / Follow Order / Fallen Order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiatus was rather short, don't you think? Ro-kun sharing another new chapter of Seed of Flowey and this is where things get more complicated. Be sure to note that there are songs linked to the story, as they belong to their respective owners.

                It is 10:37AM at Frisk’s Household, throne room. A room wide enough for a banquet for a crowd, and almost tall enough to be a two-story building. The color blue carpet in the middle makes path toward the door to the throne itself. There are no windows at the side, but only pillars extending to the ceiling, and large portraits with silver graced-pattern frames of the previous rulers of the Human Capital with their families. A total of nine with the King, Queen, and their children. Yet the ninth had a King, Queen, and Farlon as an adolescent. there is one frame missing at the right aligning with the throne itself: King Farlon’s portrait with the Queen and Frisk. In between the portraits are empty iron suits of armor with halberds standing in between them. There at the furthest of the room is an ascending stair where there is one throne of gold and red in the middle, while a crest of the Alpha Guard in a shield hangs above just behind the throne itself.

                King Asgore, Toriel, King Farlon, and Darvenshel stands at front of the throne, while Rance Vor in his Royal Guard outfit stands at the middle, with Frisk and Asriel in between him. At the left side are Doc Mercy, Sans, Papyrus, Dunkelheit, a blonde militant in strict black military attire staring daggers at the three, with a dark blue tank guardian besides her; Dianne and Bianca are currently absent. On the right side are five guards from each city, with ten guards from the household. The north guards wore a distinctive gray plating with brown inner uniform almost similar to Rance’s, the west guards had green inner uniform but their plating are red and brown; their theme is similar to Darvenshel and West City itself. The east guards have blue inner uniforms while their plating fluorescent white, and the south guards have black uniforms similar to the blonde militant, but they bear with silver linings instead of armored platings. The household guards can bear any of the city’s color uniform and plating, as long as they have the black and metal silver crest of the Alpha Guard on their right collar.

                It took them an hour to get back to the household while having majority of the guards inside the castle under maximum security, and the following hours were when the three determined ones gave their full story. Their repetitive tell tales have been tiresome for those who have heard of it, but with an audience to become aware of the situation they need to know and represent, before any of them come out of the castle grounds and interviewed by the masses. The Dreemurr parents couldn’t bear the fact that the human king had kept it a secret from them that he was taking care of their child, Asriel. Their expressions described how much they felt betrayed by the humans- even their own kind had kept it from them.

                Tension is rising the more details were given, and almost to a point that Chara is planning to stop their own father from rampaging. The former and first fallen child of the underground had a terrifying suspicion with the unusual events, but instead she kept quiet for a while. Allowing her brother to manifest his Determination. She knew it was all Flowey’s doing, from the moment Asriel was set up, up to a point of confrontation. The goat child himself could only mutter in beg for mercy, while the North Royal Guard shares his story. West raised a question why keep him a secret, but the answer ‘Your son had his reasons, that is why he doesn’t want to be revealed.’ Was not a valid answer.

                ‘A monster child who died, became a flower and reverted back into him. But his flower form is still wreaking havoc’ is what South understood. Yet, it’s too difficult to compensate. The fact that it’s still running loose, while its other half is there testifying his side of the story made the blonde militant think more that the monster king and queen’s child is all part for a plot of a coup d'etat. Darvenshel already had Asriel tell him his story, but hiding himself from anyone else, including his parents is not a solution. West didn’t fully understand his situation, and neither did the goat child.

                Frisk could only testify her side of the story as to how she met Asriel in the underground, who really broke the barrier. While she leads everyone to freedom with a promise of becoming the Monsters’ Ambassador. She is too young, yet was brave enough to take that role for them. Not everyone could agree to that. ‘It must be a worthy adult who knows the monster’s laws to become an ambassador.’ Is what East and West have thought, but among the closest it would be either Frisk, King Farlon, or Rance. The human king already has his hands full as the representative of the human race, and North is the least likeable candidate for that role. Sans had a feeling that the warrior had caused and witness bloodshed.

                The warrior only gave his side of the story as to how he met Asriel Dreemurr, in a coincidence at the hospital and at the castle. The king already took him in by that time, and they were able to introduce themselves accordingly at the castle, after the messy game of tag. His method of giving him resolve to fight for something is what gave Toriel a short snap. “A harsh training to such a young child…” Asgore was gritting his teeth; rage builds up from the inside while he continues to listen. After they shared their story, Dunkelheit and Doc Mercy both looked down as they try to connect the dots. As ridiculous as the scenario was given, they are best at making a 3rd party summary.

                The guards at the room looked at one another, as they ask questions to themselves. While majority of them have met the monsters who are part of the crowd during the escort to the former human camp, they are trying to comprehend the given side of their superiors. Doubts are starting to mix, as the commotion of comments and questioning rise. Even the four who stand are in a bind. The doctor and the professor’s eyebrows furrow as they try to block the noise; the warrior, the human and the goat child couldn’t mutter a word; they are not yet told to speak further.

                “Everyone be quiet!!” an aggressive feminine, yet commanding tone from South had forced everyone else to be silent and listen. Her expression is an indication of sudden death for those who mutter a single whisper, excluding the two kings, the caretaker, and the green tank. “way to kill the noise.” Sans fearlessly jest, and somewhere the blonde militant heard a comedic drum sound. It was a big insult, that she would have unsheathed her sword and decapitated the short skeleton, but it doesn’t look like the king’s daughter would forgive her for trying so. She grits her teeth as she stayed silent, with only an irritated expression she gave made Sans understood that he shouldn’t force her to do something reckless.

                Dunkelheit first took a step forward and cleared his throat. In a loud, yet comprehendible accent he starts, “Based from the princess and monster child’s testimony, as well as him.” He lowers his tone when Rance was mentioned; an indication of dislike which irritated the warrior. “Asriel Dreemurr maintained alive due to your highness, Frisk’s unique trait. And because of that, his original flower form was rejected and gave itself an independent life. And for unclear reasons did he hid himself from his kind and everyone else, he struggles to find his own Determination to face them. While that person did give him a resolve for some unnecessary reasons, Darvenshel was able to convince the monster child to face his parents at least once, but revealing his identity was not part of the plan. Did I get that correct?” he turns to the doctor.

The professor doesn’t want to acknowledge the warrior by name, and that further irritates him. “What I want to know is how did the young prince ended up here without being detected in the first place, and how he survived throughout without having contact with anyone before he even arrived here.” Doc wouldn’t want details to slip away just like that. “By means of survival, the former human camp had berry bushes which should give him nourishment in surviving. The riverside at the south near the Phion Village is as clean enough for anyone to drink, and by guess he slept by the log or at the Flower fields just north of the human camp.” Wesson made some pointers that is agreeable to the doctor.

He continues, “By means of travel, he was able to come to the castle with the scholar’s help. Sans has the ability to teleport from one place to another, and by the monster prince’s request they were able to enter the household without any troubles.” Sans’ powers gave the guards a distinct concern feeling; someone can enter and exit any building at will for as long as they want to. What’s more, the short skeleton can fight back with either bones or Gaster Blasters at will. “I will deal with that problem later on.” King Farlon suggests with his attention toward the blonde militant and the professor.

They nod back with a serious expression. Doc Mercy suggest, “If we humans could learn magic when it comes to emergencies, it would make things convenient. But because our ancestors’ actions, that possibility became difficult for us to achieve.” He wants to learn healing magic by giving a side note. “The ability to heal back wounds, or even teleport at will would be scientifically impossible without further studies.” Dunkelheit notes; another commotion starts but immediately went silent after South clips her pistol’s hammer from her side holster. “If anyone would have learned how to teleport at will, then the vaults of our bank or our private archives would have easily been breached.” Epiphany strikes from her sharp tone of voice; South made another killing point.

“Well said, South.” King Farlon commends. “Magic aside, we have pressing matters to discuss. North, can you give us more detail of what happened before your… soul was taken by Gaster?” the warrior looked confused as he asks, “Gaster? The pale man?” he is unsure of who that person is. It made the kings give more suspicion that he was already taken over during the night he was delivered to the hospital almost bleeding to death. It was an easy infiltration for the pale man, and for him to disguise the person’s soul he took would make security protocols more difficult to manage. King Farlon nods once.

                “The last thing that I could remember was when the limousine crashed to a wall, the city night colors inverted, and faced a pale man in black robes. And then, as soon as we started fighting, a high pitch sound pierced through my skull, and then everything went black. Until I heard people calling me out. I realized that I was bind by something.” Rance said. Everyone thought that he was with them the whole time, since last night when they were having a meeting. But it made sense that he has been off for a while. The only person who took notice was his sister, Dianne.

                The room went silent for a while, before King Farlon asks him a low tone of voice, “is that all that you could remember?” the four who stands at front had a mix of reactions. The warrior could only nod. Toriel spoke next, “Is there a better reason why you should keep our child’s presence hidden? Is there not?” Darvenshel crossed his arms while shaking his head a number of times “Young Rance, your judgment to give a child a resolve is too extreme. As much as he is troubled, he needs to see his parents to find his own resolve.”

                Asgore looks down before he spoke. “Asriel, our child. Why did you not come home?” Asriel rubs his shoulder as he looks worried of what he could say. There are times for feelings to take over, but he needs to answer his father’s question. Suddenly his black pupils became red, and his expression changed with hands clenched and dropped from his shoulder. “ _Asriel can’t answer that on his own._ ” Chara’s voice doubled with her brother’s.

                “ _He couldn’t face both his mom and dad, because of what happened in the past. It was never his fault to begin with._ ” Everyone else weren’t aware that the goat child had another persona; the voice was familiar to his parents. Asgore and Toriel were shock to hear that voice, as the caretaker asks nervously. “Chara…?” Asriel response with a tired smile, a smile only Chara does. “ _Hey mom, dad._ ” She spoke through. The blonde militant, green and blue tanks, the doctor, the professor, and all the guards were shocked that another person spoke through the supposedly-dead goat child. “ _My brother couldn’t face his parents or anyone he unwillingly toyed with during the past resets. When he was still Flowey._”

                South unsheathes her sword and aims her gun at Asriel, while Chara gives a hostile glare back at her through Asriel’s eyes. “Give us a reason why you can be trusted.” She gives a hostile tone. The first fallen child is confident enough to turn herself toward the blonde militant and approaches her slowly, until the nozzle of the gun is at point blank towards Asriel’s forehead. “ _kill me now, and you’ll start a war your King worked so hard to avoid._ ” In her eyes she sees a child who is willing to throw away her life, along with her brother’s, but in Chara’s eyes she sees little to no hesitation in the female Royal Guard’s expression. Her finger is ready to squeeze the trigger at any moment, and it changed the air around the throne room. For Asriel and Chara’s parents, what they see might turn into a heart-breaking execution. They wouldn’t allow it.

                Asgore threw out his red trident into his hands, and his right foot advances a little for a jolt of sprint. Toriel waves both hands, as small flame orbs spark out of thin air around her. “ **Get away from our child!** ” the mother had called with rage bursting. It may be a dream that her son was brought back from the dead, but she wouldn’t want to see it all disappear with a human pulling the trigger directly at Asriel’s forehead. “That’s enough, South!” The king’s order roared like a thunder. With a short glance around her, everyone but Frisk, Doc Mercy, and Rance are ready to engage. All it takes is to fire the gun, and hell will be brought loose.

                Out of nowhere, white fire orbs appear one by one. Each generates no heat, but instead they are cold as ice. One, seven, eleven, thirty, fifty-five, and more appear. Frisk looks around, as the cold generates from each orb; they look like stars twinkling in half the night’s sky. As beautiful as it may be, what comes next is what everyone worries. From the nearest floating orb to the furthest they start to shake violently, and all are about to strike the blonde militant. After one guard blinks an eye, Rance disappears with an approaching attack from the side. Loud footsteps approach the two with only quarter of the second spent; the North Royal Guard grapples the South Royal Guard’s hand up and disarms her gun hand. While the other swings faster than the warrior’s maneuverability.

                He pulls back with Asriel, almost avoiding the attack. The goat child’s ears flop back, and with the sword’s tip it was able to trim a millimeter of his hair. It was only a step back from an attack, as South did not advance. Half of the cold flames dissipate, due to the immediate pull the warrior did put Asriel and Chara in a short-term shock. Chara is still in control, with the orbs vibrating more violently. “Easy, now.” Rance suggest to the goat child, while the dark blue tank holds South back. “Let go of me, Isaac!” she looks back. West rushes in to calm her down, while Asgore and Toriel goes to their child’s side.

                The level of hostility for both sides are increasing almost rapidly, Frisk felt that Chara will be striking her down at any moment, while the blonde militant is losing patience. The child rushes to North’s back, and blocks the way with her arms raised sideward preventing the female guard and the rest from advancing, while the warrior blocks the monsters and other guards’ way with his spear unsheathe behind him; the blade points diagonally downward. While the other end points upward.

                Frisk and Rance are both left with a choice in dealing with a crowd of people. The child faces three Royal Guards who have a different mindset from her bodyguard, while Rance faces the three Dreemurrs who are in a hostile mood. Asriel continues to look at South with distrustful look, while his father glares at the warrior with the three-pronged trident pointed to his face; Toriel kneels down to Asriel’s level and hugs him from the side, while looking behind them for mercy. The guards currently point their guns at the monsters with no hesitation. While Sans, Papyrus, Doc Mercy and Dunkelheit Wesson are at the corner of the walls.

[FIGHT]                [ACT]                     [ITEM]                  [MERCY]

                The options present themselves, and even with Frisk’s act of bravery, she faces fear from what the other Royal Guards could do to her friends. Rance had a stern expression as he blocks the way, but there was a glint of concern in his eyes that is barely noticeable for the rest. East and West are doing their best to reason with South, as the child and North froze in their place. The Dreemurr parents look back and forth; which side will strike first as Chara is about to unleash the freezing orbs. The situation is in chaos, while Sans watched them closely as he held Papyrus’ hand, making sure he doesn’t do something reckless.

                Dunkelheit noticed something odd with the warrior, while a thought crossed his mind. The king steps down from the elevated floor and unsheathes his rapier. The sound of metal coming out of its scabbard had taken everyone’s attention, and in moments his raised it above. “Everyone…..” his voice was too low to be heard, but with one downward swing, the marble floor was divided by three massive slashes. “ **BE QUIET!!** ” Wind blows through everyone, while rubble flushes through the end of the room. The floor received almost an inch deep of dividing cut and almost 10-meter length of the line; the blue carpet in the middle was ruined.

                The soldiers, the Dreemurrs, the warrior and the child, and the rest of the royal guards were separated in an instant; the king made it clear where to draw the line that etched the floor. Sans drops a sweat while Papyrus’ jaw was wide open. After the bits have hit the floor, while the chandelier had shaken from the intense impact everyone was forced to be quiet, as the human king had ordered them to. King Farlon gives a deep exhale, before sheathing back his weapon to its scabbard. “Everyone, we are not here to cause any troubles whatsoever!” he clearly and loudly states, as he looks at everyone with a grave expression. “We are also not here to make it a big deal as to why the child of the monster king and queen’s child wanted to keep himself a secret to everyone!”

                Asriel’s red eyes and hostile expression had faded, as he sits to the ground. “Asriel!” catches her son from the back, while Asgore looks back; the orbs completely faded away and the temperature around them is stabilizing. “That’s enough, Chara… You don’t need to do that for me anymore…” his voice is back to its singularity, and with that Toriel felt relieved as she hugs her child tight. With a click of South’s tongue, she sheathes back her sword and turns to the king “Then what are we supposed to discuss, your highness?” her tone of voice still suggests strict and hostility. Frisk wanted to say a word, but she receives a light pat on the shoulders by Rance as he turns to her father with a light suggestion “No need to comment. She’s almost like Undyne, but worse.”

                South unsheathes her sword and swings it with her right hand towards Rance’s neck with her eyes on the king, but without even looking back he blocked it with his spear, with his arms crossed. “Watch your tongue, Vor…!” the blonde militant snaps at him, “right back at you, Valentines.” he replies without a care in the world. Without taking notice, Frisk ducked down with her arms covering her head. “Frisk, go to your father.” The warrior suggests with a tilt of his helmet.

                Frisk nods once before running to King Farlon’s side. “Before we discuss anything further…” The king makes a remark while everyone adjusts calmly to the current neutral mood. “Rance Vor… I am cutting your ties with my daughter as her bodyguard, and you will return to your post back at the Northern Guard HQ **by tomorrow**.” King Farlon states. Frisk turns to her father in shock; the same goes for the warrior if he wasn’t wearing a helmet. He continues, “With your performance lagging recently, and the unusual phenomenon folding unto Frisk while she was under your care…” the king shook his head before saying another word, but the warrior cuts through “but, sir… I made the Royal Guard oath—“

                “The fact that you failed to protect her during the abduction at the pier with her friend made it clear that you are not cut out for that particular task at hand. I will pardon your oath to her, but in the meantime I will assign someone more suited for that job.” Frisk couldn’t even retort back since what her father said was true.  Without any more cut offs, the warrior tilts his head down and places his right hand to his left chest with a bow. “As you wish, your majesty.” He said just like any loyal subjects to their majesty, but after that he felt something was weird. Everyone was glancing at him curiously, even his king was looking at him. “Is there something wrong?” he asks.

                Darvenshel intervenes to the conversation, “Aren’t you suppose to say ‘It looks like there’s no way around it’?” Frisk felt confused with that statement. What do those words mean to him? “Of all the lines I could say, I would never say that.” he states without looking back to the green tank. The tone of his voice suggest aggravation; the king could only sigh in relief. “Going back to the original discussion. We are here to talk about identifying the real threat.” King Farlon announces as he looks at everyone. It’s rare for the king to hold a discussion with the monsters around, but if anyone raises a question as he makes his statement, the next wind on them won’t miss. “Doctor Docine Mercy, if you may…” the human king nods at the mentioned before turning to his throne.

                The doctor clears his throat for a moment before he advances to the center, while those who were in the middle made way for him. “Thank you for greeting me formally, your highness. But ‘Doc’ will do.” He said in a humble tone, despite that some were actually had a revelation that his name was really Docine. “A few hours ago, my daughter, Bianca Mercy noticed a suspicious individual at the cafeteria of the West City Hospital. She went to the security room and investigated without my consent.” Doc Mercy lightly suggests while some of them looks around making whispers. “Upon checking the surveillance videos, she and the security guard found something very suspicious…”

                Three butlers have entered the throne room with a small food cart. There is a battery-powered projector at the bottom, while a laptop at the top part. The doctor turns to the three and nods once in thanks, and then he taps the space bar with the projector illuminating a clean footage of what was happening in the video. “One, was that one of our missing employee, Carlson, have suddenly appeared at the cafeteria. But if you look closely…” the video suggests the lights flicker at first, and then reveals that one person transforms into a plant. It didn’t take long before it turned back into a human. “It’s not really him. The front clerk always logs the person who would visit the hospital, and even asks the employees to log their date of work and time. But according to the clerks, they didn’t see him come in. And the back doors are not accessible as any should see fit.”

                Asriel looked closer, and noticed a familiar menacing grin in it. “That’s… Flowey.” He said, Toriel and Asgore looks at their son in shock. “You mean to say, it can shapeshift into whoever it wants?” South suggests, as she recalled the flames that engulfed Frisk in her room. She can see a close connection to it, but how does it turn into someone else? The thought of it can shapeshift raised some questions to the guards and the rest who are not aware of the situation. But Doc Mercy isn’t done with the presentation. “And then, there was the Rance Vor case. You said that after you had a confrontation with the pale man, everything went black. Right?” he turns to the warrior who is besides his fellow Royal Guards. “Affirmative.”

                The doctor taps the keyboard of the laptop, and shows another video file wherein the warrior was being delivered to the hospital. He pressed the right arrow key to do a fast forward, it shows that it was around 7:43:03AM when everyone was exiting the hospital. One figure stands out of place to the presence of the king. “My god…” King Farlon had his mouth slightly open in shock, that the person he was with was never Rance to begin with. Even Asgore and Toriel had their eyes widen before the doctor pauses. Dunkelheit was silently observing, while Sans stands beside him. The professor joins the doctor in the middle, and suggests something. “So, before we get to this point of discussion, your Highness and Sir Bastille had to verify if we are currently WITH the **real person** now, right?”

                He still doesn’t want to call his name. “The lines ‘It looks like there’s no way around it’, raised Dianne’s suspicion of his brother. Which is why…” Sans appears behind him, “in truth, frisk had a suspicion that there was something wrong with the situation. and with that she told me the plan to stop the current problem. luckily, it went well thanks to dreas and ven’s appearance.” Dunkelheit almost leaped in surprise that the short skeleton happens to appear behind him. “By hades’ vault, Sans. You shouldn’t give others a heart attack with that.” Sans just shrugs it off by raising and lowering his shoulders without a care. “you were going to ask me to step in and state what the kid had in mind…” it was figured out before the professor could even ask the short skeleton to come forward.

                “the kid noticed dianne’s unusual reaction when she heard what gaster said. it wasn’t much significant, but she had a feeling. frisk whispered it to me at first to scout the inside of the candlelight and then map it out. while she would call me for signal. after mapping, i told your informant and my brother about the plan, and when i noticed that the king’s son is accompanied with your king’s men i had a good feeling i should tell them, too. ‘break the fight with whoever you can ask for help, and i'll handle the rest.’”

                Frisk can remember what Sans response to her plan, and it wasn’t agreeable at first. “ _hey kid, you sure about that? heh, leave it to me. and if anything happens, you know what to do… don’t worry, it’ll go without a hitch._ ” And when she entered the infernal arena with Sans, “ _ten points, kid. you had it spot-on, did you…? no? how did you… dianne had a weird look... heh, you really are something, kid._ ” Dunkelheit continues discussing. “If the flower monster is made of what he’s from, then we could make a system that detects plant-traits, and identify who is fake or who is not. What we can’t say who is who, is if the impostor is Gaster himself.”

                “In addition to that, he’s the hardest to deal with as of the moment.” Doc Mercy adds up as the mood goes gloom. After the confrontation with the man who speaks in hands, and syntax, they had a taste of how futile it is to fight him. Not even the monster king and queen were able to do much. King Farlon suggest, “Maybe his creations can counter his handiwork.” Sans gives a short sigh without breaking his grin. “your majesty, with all due respect. we don’t think it’s that simple to pick out which bones you should use against that monster.” He looks back with concern. “But you and your brother are the only ones who could stop him from—“

                Sans closed both his eye sockets while he raised one hand, and placed one to his pocket. “we can’t do it alone. we need more than just us two to deal with g.” he opens one eye socket and peeked at Frisk, then later his glowing eye changed its attention to Asriel. “they are mostly the ones who put him in a knot.” There was a sound of someone stepping in, and everyone turns around to the open door. Dianne enters the throne room while wearing a hospital patient’s robe. “No, there’s another way.” She struggles to move, while Bianca follows up assisting the rogue by the shoulders while she has a medical bag with her. “Bianca, Dianne, you shouldn’t push yourse—“ Rance went to aid his sister, but she cuts him off, “Says the guy who hadn’t had proper rest, and made the problem worse.”

                Doc Mercy also rushed in to aid her daughter as well, “Bianca, you’re supposed to be resting in bed!” the wounds they have were only bruises and scratches, but a doting father couldn’t allow his daughter to work with those. “Sorry dad, but Dianne wouldn’t stay in her bed.” Rance returns a remark, “Yeah, if you can really take care of yourself, you should’ve joined us earlier.” But Dianne wasn’t just done with that. “Yes, if the hospital nurses didn’t stop me from going.” King Farlon stands up from his seat, seeing how irritated Dianne is. “What do you mean, another way?” he asks curiously.

                Dianne takes out the revolver she had behind him, and shows it sideways to everyone. Her actions raised a commotion, thinking that she would shoot. Instead, she unloads a bullet from the chamber, and shows a silver bullet to everyone. “This isn’t just a silver bullet…” she said, while having it reflect more to the right. The silver shines into brass, and then backs to its original color. “My friend’s guardian can help you with this.” Asgore approaches the rogue and takes a look at the bullet. She hands it over, as he held the ends with the tip of his fingers. “It’s a silver bullet embedded with wind magic.” He turns his attention to Dianne, and asks. “Where did you get this, young Dianne?” the monster king asks in concern.

                She looks down for a moment, and took a deep breath before exhaling. “My friend, Seven Gears and his guardian, Giga Lionheart.” Rance’s eyes widen, while Dianne hands the gun to Asgore by the nozzle. “This was his, before he was abducted by Gaster. And for some reason…” before Rance takes it, she lets go of it and it made a loud clamping sound. She looks down at first, before her brother picks it up and analyzed it. “It didn’t go with him. Unlike his other gun… And then, there’s the matter of the shot.” Some of them recalled her taking the gun and shooting the pale man to the forehead. There was an impact that actually look like he took some damage from it.

                Dunkelheit made his approach to inspect the gun, as the warrior give it to him without a word. Upon closer inspection, his eyes slightly widen. “This is the 7-55 magnum four-leaf clover revolver silver-edge edition. It is paired with the 7-55 magnum ten-59 spade revolver bronze-breaker edition. Which was bought by a famous Japanese investor back in the 1983. They were sold cheap because the auctioneer did not see the real value of the revolver guns.” The trickshooter and the lionman might have a name for them to own such a vintage set, Dunkelheit thought. Rance is piecing everything together quietly, while Dianne continues with another solution.

                “While the suggested device is still under research, there’s an alternative way of identifying an impostor…” The words left her mouth, yet silence could only be heard within the throne room. No one else had spoken about it afterwards, as the king made it clear that it is a confidential meeting. It didn’t take long before the meeting ended.

* * *

 

                In the afternoon, Rance Vor was cleaning up his stuff from his room and putting them in trunks and suitcases. While his other arsenals are being withdrawn from the household’s armory. The movers were back to have his stuff transferred back to his apartment at the North City. All Frisk could do is watch, while the warrior could only smile a bit; he didn’t want this to happen but the thought of him failing to protect her was more than enough to aggravate her father. “Once everything is okay, things will go back to running its usual routine, Frisk. Don’t worry.” He cheerfully said, but inside he could feel his heart beating heavily.

                “Don’t worry. Everything will be alright.” Frisk says with an understanding smile. “Don’t lose hope, because of what I saw, you’re not the type to give up.” She consoles him. His hands started to tremble just before he grabs a hold of the trunk’s handle, but his expression is still cold. There’s the feeling of sadness in him waiting to come out, but all he could express is shut tighter than his case. “Frisk… before I go…” he steps out of his room, and stops half way to where the child stands. “Could you… step on my foot?” a weird request from the warrior who is trembling. His hand wouldn’t stop shaking, and from one of the passing movers it’s like Rance is ready to burst.

[Step on his foot]                             [ **Comfort him** ]

                Frisk held his hand with hers, and made him stop. He fell on his knees while he tilts his helmet off a little. She hugs him by the neck, while all Rance could do is take in everything that happened. Instead of breaking down to tears, he took her hands off of him and let them down gently. In his current armored attire, the metal would cause discomfort to her. He turns his head to her, and said “Thanks… You’ll do great soon enough.” With nothing else going on, he stood up and picked up his stuff. Leaving with no more words, Frisk saw a glint of crimson red in his eye shield.

[Thanks to Frisk’s comfort, he knows that he did good in taking care of her. The thought fills him with **DETERMINATION** ]

* * *

 

* * *

 

                After the meeting ended, everyone but Frisk, King Farlon, and the blonde militant had exited the room. The goat child looks troubled as he stared down the carpet. His parents held his shoulders to comfort him, but it doesn’t feel like he’s going to be okay. The green tank Royal Guard, Darvenshel who was just about to exit through the stairs took notice of Asriel’s state of mind. Instead, he approaches the Dreemurrs with a friendly greeting. “Hello, Asgore, Toriel, Asriel.” Looking at them with a smile, but it’s hard to tell when his face is covered. Only the tone of his voice indicate no harm. Asgore does what he can to smile back at the armored human, “Howdy, Darvenshel.” He greets back, while his child takes notice of Darvenshel’s presence.

                “Howdy, Sir Bastille.” From how they greet, it was obvious that Asriel is taking up his father’s trait of kindness. “I am not fully aware of the family issue, and the special event… But, please take care of your son as much as you can.” He sounds worried about the welfare of the goat child. He continues, “And, I apologize for young Rance’s actions. He only wanted to make him stronger by resolve.” Toriel cuts through with a kind tone, “Please tell him to never approach out child again.” The thought clashed with what Asriel had in mind. “But mom! He’s a good person. If not—“ Asriel tries to reason, but she wouldn’t want to see the day she regrets letting him get near a dangerous person. “I don’t want you got get hurt by him.”

                “Well, I don’t want you two to hurt anyone, either!” Asriel snaps back a retort. They were all shock for what he just said, as they couldn’t respond back almost immediately. Asgore had a thought that he knows something about what they did in the past, which only made things more complicated. Darvenshel clears his throat as he puts his clenched hand to where his mouth is, and then drops it with a glance towards the parents and child. “Asriel, don’t take things too seriously. Your parents are loving as they are, and I know you don’t mean to say that… Just give them time, and things will work out for the better.” He consoles him as kind as possible.

                He turns his attention to the parents. “And you two. You may have had a tough time with what happened in the past, but please understand that your child is going through serious moments.” He sounded concern at first, and then he continues. “Heck, it took me a whole night to convince him to face his parents.” He jests, but it doesn’t mean that he means it as a joke. “But please. If you need help with something, let us know. The king saw that he indeed troubled with something, and allow him to live in this castle.” They weren’t aware of where he stayed, “And normally, the king wouldn’t shelter anyone if there is not a good reason to do so. But in case something happens, let us know. We are no enemies, so let us be friends.” He offers a hand shake to them. Asgore had a thought in mind, but instead of letting his doubts get to him, he took the offer and shook hands with Darvenshel. “We thank you for the consent, and for taking care of our son.”

                Back at the New Monster Capital, Asriel sits idly with his parents on the dinner table while both of them are doing what they can to cheer their son. Toriel brought out a Butterscotch Pie, while Asgore readies a teapot of the Golden Flower Tea. “Tori dear, I’ll prepare the plates.” Asgore says, while Toriel could only nod back. The thought of them putting an effort to be the same parents they were before bothers the goat child. It He just sits on his chair, while he dangles his feet under the table. It doesn’t feel like the home it used to be, not with Chara in him. He just looks at the blank dinner table while he drops his right hand.

                “Hey, Chara…. I wish you’re here with us, as in here-here. And all the mess would be just like a bad dream.” Asriel told himself, but his friend doesn’t agree. “I just… want things to be back the way it used to be… Right now, it doesn’t feel like that… huh?” he felt a paper on his pocket. He takes it out, to see that it’s a neatly folded letter with Chara’s writings. “To Mom and Dad.” Curiously, he tries to open the letter. But then, he stops at midpoint. “Oh, I shouldn’t read this? Okay, Chara.” Even when he could take a peek, he decided not to. Despite everything, he still trusts her. Moments later, Toriel arrives with a pie on one hand, and a tray of teacups. While Asgore follows up with a pot of tea held on one hand, and a tray of plates over the other.

                Asriel hesitates to answer, while Toriel takes notice of her son’s unsual fidgeting. “Asriel, my child. Is there something wrong?” she asks nicely. He hands the folded letter to them, and as they put down the food, drink, and housewares; Toriel takes the letter. “Chara wanted you two to read it.” As confused as they are, she opens the letter, and read it. They finished reading it in almost three minutes, but they stood there taking everything in for ten minutes.

                They look at Asriel with tears ready to come out of their eyes, and cried. They both hugged him, while their son suddenly felt the warmth of their hugs and tears. “We’re sorry, Asriel… We’re sorry, Chara!” they cried. Without understanding what was going on, he felt like crying with them. The sorrowful mood had mixed in, as he felt the regretful things that they have done. Recalling what they did, that cost them their lives made all things pour in. “You didn’t mean to do it; I know you didn’t!” he cries. The pie and tea that sits in had grown warm. Toriel wipes her tears away, as she tries to clear her nose. “Welcome home, our child.”

* * *

 

 

_[Dear Mom and Dad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3sJ79C1Zyo), I’m sorry for what I’ve done. What became the outcome of the last millennium of suffering the underground has gone through. It was just too heavy to bear what Dad said. “The future of both Humans and Monsters.”_

_I never told you where I live or why I ran away from home… I lived at the Abundant Life Village, where the people there hung and burned my parents’ bodies to a tree, while setting our house on fire. I don’t really know why, but they wanted me dead. So, I ran away and never turned back._

 

* * *

 

                Bianca was in her room, packing up her things in her dorm. Clothes, Laptops and DVD’s. Even her External Hard Disks with cartoon pictures and science stickers are in place. She has everything ready for her journey. Including her medical kits and journal notes. She also has a folder of written and printed documents of her studies, and others that may not make sense. Blank papers, pencils and pens are in place, as well as her rulers and calculators. Someone knocks on her doors, before opening it.

                “Have you prepare what you need for the journey, my student?” Dunkelheit enters and asked straightforwardly. She moves her hair away from blocking her view, and nods with a smile. “Yes, professor.” He tips his top hat for a moment, “Well, this will be the first visit to the Monster Capital. Let us just hope that Sans’s known scientist Alphys is a reliable one." Despite that they will be heading there, without knowing of the dangers anyone else could assume, both of them doesn't seem to mind. "Tomorrow, we explore and learn from the monsters." The professor is filled with joy, but Bianca doesn't responds back. There was something in her mind that bothers her. _  
_

* * *

 

                Rance enters the North Royal Guard HQ, and as he enters, everyone greeted him. They all had asked some questions, and he answered them without flinching or faltering. He didn’t stutter at all, even when the heavy ones were asked. After that, he just walked to his office without a word. His shoulders were as cold as they once were, when he became the Royal Guard. They were all worried for his sake. After getting to his office, he sees a mountain pile of papers, almost five hundred thick folders of reports for the last week and so on the left side of his office table. He opens up a drawer and takes a pen out of it.

                Without batting an eye for everyone else who were watching from the window, he started taking one folder of report, reading all of it, and signed it before putting them to the right. From left unsorted, to the right. He processed all of it without hesitation. He flips from the start of the page up to the end, and then sorts them. From accepted request, resolved request, rejected request, revised request, and even requests in process he worked through. Not knowing what time isn’t his concern. He just does the work that was undone. And to everyone who could have processed it for him, they couldn’t. It is the Royal Guard’s job to process all reports before acting, since they have the authority to make things happen in their assigned cities.

 

                At the North City Police Station, Dianne makes a visit to one of the people who was locked there. She sits to a table where she could meet him, and moments later a man with spiky jet black hair was escorted in chains. Fortunately, if the person who was put on hold for only a short time are allowed to wear their usual attires while any dangerous items will be held confiscated, but those who are serving long would wear grey convict uniforms; the person who she’s meeting is an exception. “Hey, Dianne.” Seven sits up front, while Dianne smiles back. “Hey Sven.” She sounds worried. Seven Gears look at her again, and noticed that she has some scratches. “By the Gods, what happened.”

                She looks down for a while, “You know. The guy who took everyone, we happen to had a confrontation. But that’s not why I’m here. We need your help.” She went past the side story and to the point she needs to talk about. “But, they told me that I’ll be staying here for another 7 days. I don’t even know what happened or what I did.” He shook his head, not knowing what to think. After that, a man with a crown had arrived and sat beside Dianne. King Farlon looks at Seven Gears in the eye, and then he suddenly felt the need to bow. “Your highness!—OW!” He bowed down without standing up, only for himself to hit his face hard to the table. The rogue covers her mouth in stopping her chuckle.

                “Hello, Seven Gears. I heard a great deal about you from young Dianne Vor.” The king had stated calmly, but the trickshooter is imagining the guillotine over his neck as he rubs his nose to ease the pain. “We’re going to need all the help we can in hunting down the man who made people disappear, will you help us?” he humbly asks. “I don’t really know what I can help, but I’ll try to. But I’m going to need my pop’s help for that.” The king looks down for a moment. “Your companion, Giga Lionheart is also serving three days, but his due process is transferred to the Monster Capital.” Seven stares back with a blank reaction.

                “Sven, you’re also going to serve three days but not in staying here. You’re going to be put on an open trial with my brother.” Dianne states softly, while holding his hands. “If he deems you innocent, your time serve will be cut short. And Giga will be, too.” The trickshooter just looks down. “I don’t even know what I did to deserve this—“ King Farlon cuts him there, and state in cold harsh words “You and Dianne had brought an illegal monster to the Human Capital that was registered as Human, and to make things worse you were manipulated by the abductor to kidnap my daughter, and have a gunfight with young Dianne’s brother.” Seven couldn’t believe what was just stated. “Listen, Seven Gears. I will pardon for your unwilling actions if you are temporarily assigned as Rance Vor’s Assistant Guard. And if he deems you worthy of forgiveness, I will let you and your guardian go.” The sun had set down, and only he could decide if he would rather stay in his cell serving for what he didn’t mean to do, or would he confront that man he didn’t mean to harm.

* * *

 

 

_After being chased to Mt. Ebott and fell into a hole, I thought that I was going to die alone. And then, Asriel helped me up. After losing my parents, you came into my life and welcomed me, as if I was and have always been part of the family. And I felt happy about it, until dad told me that me and Asriel are the future for both Humans and Monsters._

_That future would be okay, but I was not in my right mind to think about that. After what they have done to me and my parents. So, instead I asked Asriel to do something for me. I made myself sick with the buttercups and let my soul take over his body. I wanted to know if people changed for the better. But honestly, I knew they wouldn’t. I wanted to make them pay for what they did, but when Asriel found out that I was really doing, he stopped me._

 

* * *

 

                At Alphys’ house, Grillby sleeps in a fireproof pod while mechanical contraptions are checking his vitals. Alphys is checking on his monitor as she logs for the recent changes. Sans comes out of the other room, which is the kitchen. “hey phys. sorry for the sudden notice.” he says with a slack and grin. She turns to him and asks, “W-what exactly happened to Grillby?” she puts her note to the table as she approaches the short skeleton. “long story short, he went to the human capital and caused a **wildfire**.” As painful for him to make a pun in this situation, she was more shock with what the flaming bartender did. “listen, alphys. could you check on my brother again just to make sure?”

                Sans is more concerned with Papyrus due to his sudden gain of power. “Your brother… Did he… kill a human?” the scientist asks, while having doubts with her question. She doesn’t stutter much, but with the sudden problems occurring she couldn’t help but stutter. “no, never. he's too cool to do something like that.” Alphys plays with her fingers while she looks down. “You see… uhm.. Papyrus…”

[gained a Human SOUL trait - **Bravery** ]

* * *

 

_[He’s badly hurt from what they did to him](https://soundcloud.com/animeost5lw/white-gloves-reprise), and because he doesn’t want to fight, I let him go back to the UNDERGROUND. But I didn’t realize how wounded he was. Right before my eyes, he was turning to dust. And just when I was going to disappear, Gaster captured my SOUL and put it in a contraption. Tested me with needles and lasers, and then… I became the CORE’s power source._

 

* * *

                At night, blonde lady in black military uniform enters her office while giving an exhale. She looked exhausted from how stressed she looks, while closing the door behind it and leaning on it. Her office is had a desk with drawers, a clock behind the desk and two bookshelves. From anyone’s point of view, it looks like an office room for consultants or bosses, but underneath the desk holds a secret compartment of spare pistols and shotguns, while the coat hanger at the side of the door has a hidden blade that can be detached into a spear, and underneath her chair hides a survival knife.

                She holds a lot of dangerous weapons ready for deployment, but only used during the emergencies. Just when she starts to calm her nerves, one of his soldiers happen to sit on one of her chairs, with his arms crossed. The look on his eyes give off a weird feeling, and with that South pulls his handgun from her side pocket holster and aims it at his forehead. “State your business.” She told him.

                The soldier spoke, “I apologize for my stay her, Ma’am. But I just… had a lot to think about with King Farlon’s meeting. I mean, I don’t trust this. Humans and monsters—“ without a second thought, South fired three bullets to his forehead. The holes that were made leaked green fluids, while it starts to close on its own. “So this is the mentioned flower monster’s ability to shapeshift. Too bad it can’t replicate the same memories and standards my men carry.” A boastful and threatening suggestion from the blonde militant. She didn’t hesitate to unsheathe her swords and made a decapitating approach. The soldier lets out green fluids, before turning to dust.

                “ _Ohohoho~! You are one clever human!_ ” A golden flower reveals itself behind one of the shelves by pushing off the books in front of it. “What do you want?” she asks in a low tone of voice, while she points the handgun unto its core. “ _What I want? Jeez, coming from a trigger happy human, I feel **much oblige** to answer THAT question._ ” Flowey playfully tells while putting his leaf over his wretched mouth. One shot was fired, and pierced through the flower’s center immediately killing it. But it didn’t stop there.

                More flowers have pushed off her books and revealed themselves to the female Royal Guard. All of them were making taunting expressions of what humans would look like as they suffer in despair. Bliss in death, cursed remorse, playful and menacing, even her expression was imitated, aggressiveness. “ ** _What we want, is war._**” She open fires at all of them, precisely killing them. The night continues with numerous gunshots heard from her office. She fires away while she remembered what Dianne said. “While they haven’t made the device in detecting impostors, we can go for the classic. Ask them what they should know or follow. If they stray from it, they’re considered fake.”

* * *

 

 

_Time passes on faster than I could expect as the CORE’s power source, as it lets me overview the UNDERGROUND completely. I saw Dad declare war against humans, while Mom left him for that reason. I waited for anyone to find me, but no one did.  Eventually, more children were dropped off here.. And then… Dad had to do it._

_Mom didn’t stop them from being killed. She just stayed at the RUINS crying. I should’ve guided them, just like what I did for Frisk. So that no one had to die, but it took me six dead children before I grew a conscience. Three of them were my friends, who helped me get away from them. Mako, Herald, Tesla, Shiela, Jake, Tommy. I could have done something. But instead, you killed them, both of you._

 

* * *

 

                At midnight, Sans was at Alphys’ kitchen, reading a number of documents while he wears a reading glass. He checks one document after another. Comparing and taking notes of it, while he drinks one bottle of ketchup. Mettaton in his NEO form happens to enter the kitchen and noticed how hard Sans is working. “Working yourself to the bone, my dear?” the robot asks playfully while he approaches. “yeah, someone has to do the king a favor or two, while their son’s back from the dead.” He doesn’t look back to the entertainer, and before long Mettaton takes a look at the papers the short skeleton is reading.

                One of them had a picture of Rance Vor while the other is Dianne Vor. “These are…” the robot is astonished. What Sans had with him are records of the two Vors. Logs, portfolio, reports, incidents, and even under-the-table missions. “yeah, one way to be sure who our allies are, or enemies.” The last part made him frown. Mettaton takes Rance Vor’s ‘exterminate log’ and with a glance, he counted 54 humans were killed and 5 monsters. “This human, is he?” the robot asks.

                “you can’t tell alphys about this. not yet.” Sans gives a glance that begs him not to. While some files are hidden underneath the Vor’s documents. Revealing numbers and formulas, with one written in readable text, “7 souls”.

* * *

 

 

_But Asriel doesn’t know that, and he doesn’t need to. Even when our family is separated, I am still thankful to have a foster-parents like you two, so I want to ask a favor. Please, be the best parents Asriel can ever have. Before we beat Flowey once more, disappear completely. -Chara_

_P.S. The events that occurred today are all part of Flowey’s plan, to create a war between humans and monsters. And Flowey has half of Asriel and my[soul.](https://soundcloud.com/animeost5lw/white-gloves-reprise)  
_

 

* * *

                The Dreemurrs weren’t able to tell, but the moment of their true reunion took them half the afternoon till midnight. The pie and tea were already cold, and as they wipe away the tears of joy, the clock hits 12:00AM. Out of nowhere, Asriel’s chest glows strangely warm. “Asriel?” Asgore asks in surprise. A heart reveals red, orange, and violet colors and mixing and flowing in it.

-To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was the long story? Flowey's trap almost succeeded in creating questionable doubts, if it weren't for the king's ability to create three massive slashes. Hard to say, even the humans have something up in their sleeve. This is where things get complicated. I will put the main story on hold, and continue with the extras. How will they go on in their separate ways? And the flower monster just made its own 'Declaration of War' with South, but who is 'South'? Find out more on the next extra chapter of Seed of Flowey. Updates are posted in [Undertale Forums](http://undertaleforums.com/thread/136/moved-general-wrote-au-extenion), [DA](http://neostar001.deviantart.com/art/Seed-of-Flowey-AU-Extension-of-TPR-627955388), and teasers and other possible news regarding to the story writer updates go to [tumblr](https://ro-kun.tumblr.com/). Any questions? hashtag #seedofflowey on either twitter or tumblr and I'll check on that later, or directly message me on tumblr.


	20. Fear's Grip and Fiend's Grip (part one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Ro-kun here with a new chapter of the main story, Seed of Flowey. I hope you enjoy the first of four part chapter. Yes, this one's going to be longer.

                It is Saturday for everyone—the start of a weekend break. Unlike others who does not have any work in that day; such as blacksmiths, offices, and local shopkeepers, majority will still need to work in keeping their cities as clean and orderly as possible. The Kings are always in duty every day to ensure that their kingdom does not fall apart at critical times. Enforcers, such as police, royal guards, and soldiers only have very little time for break days. Excluding those who work themselves **to the bone** , dedicated to ensure that peace is not broken with unruly events.

                That goes the same for people who maintain health, information, and some entertainment. But for students in universities, it is optional for them to take a break during these type of weekends. No one is well aware of the dangers that a single flower is causing, and all eyes are heated on people who caused them on the spot. In these past three days, acted more like its own weekend for certain people.

                Asriel’s actions are becoming more exposed to his parents, as they have just learned that he can transform into his adult and final form. Not only that, he can perform advanced magic, which had almost shaken the balance of the world’s laws. Meanwhile, Frisk’s actions show to her father that she can take care of herself if needed, but even so, she still needs guidance in taking care of others. King Farlon feels like she is becoming closer to him than ever, and he feels glad.

                But even with that, Flowey couldn’t afford to let things go on easy. Whatever the flower did, it made things complicated: and event that cannot be explained by reason. During the free days, it somehow got to the two Determined children with its illusions, and eventually caught a lot of people with it. Frisk’s dead mother, Queen Falma, made an appearance and almost killed her own husband. Asriel suddenly went missing, only for Chara to take control and follow a familiar voice.

                Rance Vor, the northern Royal Guard who serves as the right hand of King Farlon, has judged the gun man named ‘Seven Gears’ if he is truly innocent or not. He has more plans for him than the other could expect. The warrior was almost killed in action. As the false queen’s arrow punctured his chest to his heart, blocking the attack with his body to protect the king himself. He was bedridden for more than a day.

                Dianne Vor, the sister of the Northern Royal Guard and the information gatherer of the Human Capital, had served to observe both Bianca Mercy and Professor Dunkelheit Wesson research about the Flower, its origin and possible weakness, the Soul trait and its reaction, the cause of the illness ‘the Red Moon’, and the methods of detecting a fake at the **Monster Capital**. In their days, they were able to gather the needed information within 2 days, and also made new discovery and friends. From certain events of the monster’s city, to their rules and nature.

                Dunkelheit became closer to Sans, as they both have a similar thought: disliking the Northern Royal Guard for several reasons ahead. Papyrus was also there, and became closer to the nurse and the rogue, in a way. Alphys was pleased to meet new humans, almost without stuttering throughout their days of stay. She was mostly pleased to meet another person who loves anime. Dianne also likes those kind of things, but she showed to them that she prefers shows with anthromorphic animals or beasts.

                In those three days, the two accused suspects, Seven Gears and Giga Lionheart proved their innocence, regarding of the heat in between them. The gun man did his best to prove to Rance that he is not the type of person who would take a person for reasons, as part of Gaster’s act and Flowey’s plan. While the lion man also struggled to prove that he is also not that type of beastman to do such a cowardly tactic. He even provided entertainment during his lunch break, that pleased the monster king and his people. It was too much, because Mettaton wants him to work under his T.V. shows.

                In proof that they are the good people, Seven and Giga offered to help the two kings in looking for their missing children. The history behind the Abundant Life Village was later revealed to them, where the origin of the children coming into Mt. Ebott, and the unnecessary actions that were brought up. In the end, the lost children were found and the two had proven their worth—almost earning their favors. In doing so, they were able to clear their names as fugitives of the Human Capital, and are now allowed to become proper citizens of the city.

* * *

 

                It was morning, and Dunkelheit gives his presentation of the information they have gathered about the flower. Along with Sans, they have given their explanation to the two kings at the Human Capital’s royal household. The throne room that is converted into a private presentation room, with the lights dim and additional chairs added for the specific people to sit in. A projector and a white presentation screen is prepared for the sharing of their findings just behind the door, while papers are prepared for the rest to read. Just like judges making a fair point of work, everyone is seated in their chairs with a long rectangle table. From left to right are West, Asriel, Toriel, Asgore, Farlon, Frisk, South, and East.

                 It is no doubt that the young children are there to listen to their finds, while three out of four Royal Guards were present at this time. The professor explained that a drug called ‘Determination’ is the origin of the flower monster and its bizarre recreation. The ‘determination’ that was extracted from the dead souls. “At theory, it should help the monsters last longer as humans in physical form. But…” the short skeleton continued from there, “the numbers and values of the extracted variable are negative numbers. because it was extracted from the dead children’s life force. it is safe to call that drug, ‘ **dead determination’.** ”

                “We were desperate in those times. We, the monsters turn to dust when we passed away.” King Asgore has given his reasoning. “So, you wanted to remain physically present, even after you had…” King Farlon understands that their situation and entirety is different. It is unfortunate that their nature is like that. Asriel, who is seated in between his parents, clutched his knees as he listens. Frisk could tell that he was bothered by it. Dunkelheit pressed onwards. “Because of that, unnatural results were given. Recreating a monster without regards to sentient feelings.” He was accurate and broad about that; he wanted both sides to be in formal terms with one another. Their goal is to unite both humans and monsters, to live with one another peacefully.

                Flowey, the flower monster recreated from the experimental drug, applied by Dr. Alphys. It might have been like an accident for her to bring an unwanted life into reality, but she is likely to be blamed for its existence. “in reading alphys’ notes, the doc was able to make a kill bomb that is only for it.” It sounded like something that will clear out a large place. King Farlon was bothered by it and asks. “What do you mean by kill bomb?” the professor steps in and shows a certain vial. It looks slightly clear, close to water.

                “What is that?” the eastern royal guard asks. “This is called ‘Synthetic remover’. It will release unnecessary life recreation made by the ‘ _Determination_ ’ drug. It is also tested and proven that it is safe for humans and monsters.” Frisk looks eager to ask something, and raises her hand in question. “Will it kill Flowey?” she hesitates to finish the sentence. The short skeleton could only wink at her and gives his assurance. “no worries, kid. it should at least stop the flower from spreading.” The goat and human child looked at one another, having doubtful expressions.

                Is it really necessary to take out the flower monster? Is there any other way in defeating the enemy or befriend it? The princess herself couldn’t accept the fact that it might kill it. Why is it even here, if Asriel is physically present? Asriel could only look down in silence. It looks like he wants to say something, but couldn’t. In that silence, it felt like everything else fell into a mute, while the professor and Sans explain how the produced chemical work. “… asriel…Asriel… hey, Asriel?” Frisk called his name one more time, while grabbing his shoulders and shaking him awake. The goat child comes back to reality, with everyone else looking at him. He looks flustered all of the sudden.

                “Is there something wrong, my child?” Toriel comes to her son, and bends down to observe him. “…I said before. Flowey is my other half. It has half my SOUL, and Chara’s.” They continue to listen, and the Southern Royal Guard feels like she needs to ask him. Darvenshel, the Western Royal Guard stops her from doing so. “I don’t know what will happen, if we kill Flowey.” He lets go of his knees from his grip, and continued. “I…want to live, and… I want to be like Frisk.” He finishes it with his eyes brimming in red. “I want to become the Humans’ Ambassador.” That was out of nowhere, and the rest fell in disbelief.

                Him, becoming the Humans’ Ambassador. “Asriel…” King Asgore and Queen Toriel wouldn’t want to make it difficult for their son, and wanted to give him the best remaining time of his life. “I do apologize for butting in with the moment, but we shall discuss about future positions, **after the presentation**.” Dunkelheit was rather blunt about that, and in his speculation, everyone is already focused on what he wants to be. He’s trying to put out the fire that was suddenly set ablaze. “The professor is right. We will talk about what you want to become later. Right now, we need to hear from their findings, and a way to minimize the damage that the flower monster could do to us.” Darvenshel gave his honest opinion.

                “I would also like to add that for some reason, King Farlon’s tea, the Jade Dragronfruit Tea also contributes to the mutation of the **‘Red Moon Illness’**.” It somehow made the human king twitched a nerve. “How can you be so sure of that?” he protests. “The tea has a compound that eliminates the symptoms of the illness. But upon closer inspection, the  seeds of the fruit create a violent reaction. **Reanimating a monster similar to Flowey**. And in our case, It creates a violent reaction.” In the projector, it shows how a tea pot suddenly becomes re-animated.

                An object gains its own eyes and mouth, while it reacts violently to the new environment. “While the vial I showed you, **eliminates the reanimation**. Reverting it back to its inanimate form.” With a few clicks on the projector, a circular bomb-like object was thrown at the teapot monster. As soon as it splashed toward it, the eyes and mouth shrinks into something small and evaporates into nothing. They were horrified to see that the tea and the drug mixed together creates **that**. “It triggers when too much of the tea is mixed with the formula. It is advisable that we need to have an alternative.”

                “What can you suggest? Our people might suffer the **Red Moon**.” The king is concerned. The tea that was given to him contributes to the illness, and the fact that everyone had already made use of it as a source of cure for it, will cause problems. There will be moments that they will question why it became a cure, if it can make things worse. “The vial that I have. It contains the formula that can burn the symptoms just by applying it to the source, without consuming it.” Dunkelheit said.

                “yeah. the cure is quite sour and healthy for humans, but not for some monsters.” Sans comments. The child thinks what could be sour, but healthy? She raises her hand, and the short skeleton points at her. “you know, kid?” Frisk answers “Lemons?” for a moment, the royal guards chuckled lightly. “The cure for this whole madness is lemons? I don’t think such a common fruit could the cure for this.” South sneers with her jest. Unfortunately for her, the professor points with a nod. “That is correct.” If it were to be a gag show, a crowd of people would be laughing at the Kings and the Royal Guards’ jaw dropping expressions.

                “How does **Lemon** even cure or kill the flower’s influence?!” South protests the question. Dunkelheit points up with his index finger and makes a correction. “It is unbelievable that it is  one of the ingredients for the vial. But that is not the only thing that can kill the flower. I have also added a special compound that ensures that any monster will not have negative effects from the acidic residue.” The eastern royal guard ponders for a moment with his hand on his chin part of his helmet, rubbing it for a moment like he was naturally rubbing his own chin.

                Asriel was thinking for a moment as well. “C-can it really cure anyone with that kind of illness?” The question seems to be going in circle. “to cut it short, the vial can work as long as the symptoms ain’t persisting, yet. aside from this given cure, we are still looking for a way to make it more effective. like that of a human SOUL traits’ effects.” Sans sounded more rational about that, while Papyrus gives his comment. “MY BROTHER AND THE DOCTOR REALLY WORKED HARD TO MAKE A STRONGER FORMULA, WHICH IS WHY THEY SAID THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO WORK HERE.”

                King Farlon couldn’t flinch in front of his guards, with the tall skeleton’s loud voice. “Please, Papyrus. Lower the tone of your voice.” He begs for it. Darvenshel took notice of what the tall skeleton had just mentioned. “So, you are saying that the vial isn’t the full cure for this situation.” He lends a hand gesture for it, while turning his head to everyone else. “as much as we worked ourselves **to the bone** , we can’t get any more results without additional info. but the vial we made can dust a fake human or monster.”

                The pun wasn’t necessary for Sans to mention along with a drum sound gag coming out of nowhere; and before the tall skeleton could make a loud reaction, the human king already covers his ears with eyes forcibly shut in. A pill suddenly flies to Papyrus’ open jaw and it goes inside his armor. The professor really took precaution not to let him make any more annoying sounds, by making him consume a medicine. Strangely, even for skeletons it works well with them. “oh my god. sans.” That sounded less loud, almost close to a bleating whisper. “I don’t really know how you two could consume such a thing, despite that you do not have any organs.”

                “yeah. we don’t really **have the stomach** to drink that stuff. but at least it looks like it really is working its way **to his bones**.” There’s always that sudden drum sound gag, and it makes them look around. The eastern royal guard threw his large and heavy mace upward in an arc. It goes over the presentation screen, and forces the door to open. The next thing everyone hears is someone getting a taste of a heavy thing landing on their upper body, while a drum set breaks down. One of the drums have rolled down the stairs, while someone says “ouch.”

                Before anyone bothers to say a word, the person who just got himself hurt walks away with his broken set. A little later, a maid comes in and bows in apologies. “I am very sorry for the inconvenience, your majesty. My brother has been set out of the castle and taken care of.” She sounded apologetic. Dunkelheit looks back outside, to see a man being send out to the entrance, while some butlers are bringing the person’s broken instruments along with the intruder. That aside, the maid comes out of the room, only for the professor to splash some of the vial’s liquid substance toward her. Nothing happened.

                “Now that the problem is taken care of, let us talk about the human SOUL traits.” He gives his word to turn to the next page. Everyone looks to the next page, to see seven colored hearts with its’ information and characteristics. “The SOUL traits that suddenly become physically visible for everyone to see.” Toriel is wondering why they start to manifest out of nowhere. “As you are well aware, the two children had shown particular signs that their energy glows bright.”

                “Can you get to the point already?” South was being blunt, as she seems to want to hear less introductions. “sure, just don’t get **too prickly**.” That sounded more like an insult from Sans than a pun, or does he already know her name. It irritated her more when he winked at her. “normally, these soul traits only manifest to humans. their traits are: **patience** is light blue, **bravery** is orange, **integrity** or **goodwill** is blue, **perseverance** for purple, **kindness** is green, **justice** is yellow, and **determination** is red.” They continue to look at the paper with its information.

                “normally, monsters cannot obtain the trait by any means necessary. but for some reason, even monsters are gaining this trait unwillingly.” Dunkelheit continues to from here. “Ever since the monsters were freed from the UNDERGROUND, and both sides were able to meet, the trait manifests itself. The only logical explanation towards this, as proven by my assistant and the monsters’ Royal Scientist, the trait manifests when a human and monster interacts and befriend one another.”

                Recalling Alphys and Bianca, they were like best friends. There was also a time when Alphys’ soul turns **purple** for a short time, while Bianca’s soul also blinks into **blue**. It wasn’t noticeable for anyone else but to the professor himself. Maybe Sans had noticed it, but he just didn’t bother to tell to anyone about that. “Papyrus, can you try to make your SOUL glow?” the tall skeleton turns to him with a questionable and clueless look. “nyeh?” in a moment, he realizes what Dunkelheit wants to make him do. “all right, i'll do my best!” his loud voice was minimized and it sounded pleasant to hear.

                “I, the great Papyrus will do my best, to become the best!” the volume of his voice is slowly getting louder. An aura of orange is starting to flow within him as his SOUL starts to act like a beacon. A few moments later, his eyes were glimmering with a familiar light. Like someone who channeled his energy from within, his arms were positioned just between himself. The scarf flows upward, while the fragments of the light flies up with it. The fragments gather just above him, and later flies toward his core. It formed an orange heart-shaped light.

                “DID I DO GOOD?” his voice came back to its original loudness. The unexpected loudness made the human king flinch from his seat. It was unusually expected for everyone else after they saw him react bad at the human camp. Despite that, it is new to Dunkelheit for him to see King Farlon badly react to Papyrus’ voice. “… I see. I will make a special **hearing aid** for the king.” The look in his face mean disappointment. “heh, pap. your soul may have **brushed off** the drug’s effects. way to make it  light for the king.”

                Papyrus stomps his foot repetitive times while punching his arms down along with it, exclaiming “OH MY GOD, SANS!!!” while all the short skeleton could do is close his eye holes. Toriel puts up a single glowing flame in front of them to get their attention. “You two, please. Be considerate to Frisk’s Father’s condition. Will you lower this foolishness, will you not?”  her hand was extended a little, while the flickering kindle approaches the two. “WOWIE—I MEAN…. SORRY.” Papyrus looked embarrassed as his orange SOUL fades down. “Did the skeleton…just blushed?!” East stood up from his chair and slams both his plated hands on the table.

                “Yes. yes he did.” An awkward reply from King Asgore, while the rest looks at him in curious. The professor had to loudly clear his throat to get their attention. “Going back, the SOUL trait, as the monsters can call it—is originally for us humans to possess it. But overtime, the trait passes to the monsters.” The monsters look at Asriel first, before looking back at the tall skeleton. “Based from the given data, as well as the logged actions that were done during our stay at the Monster Capital. Humans and Monsters co-existing and creating a bond: Friendship, Love, or similar interests **creates** an adaption to both sides. Meaning to say, the Monsters’ magical aura infusing with the Humans, while the latter shares its trait to them creates a significant change.”

                Sans cuts in and says, “in short. befriending one another allows both sides to unlock a SOUL trait. one example are the two kids present to us. the other is paps, then the two girls…” there was a relaxed tone at the last part, but it felt stressed the moment he paused to consider what will happen next. “How about you and the Professor?” King Farlon curiously asks. He brushes his beard for a moment while he closes his eyes. The present Royal Guards are also curious if the doctor had unlocked his, since he has been collaborating with the monsters for quite some time now.

                Dunkelheit closed his eyes and tries to imitate the tall skeleton, but nothing happened. “I hadn’t felt anything new ever since I’ve met Sans.” The short skeleton looks at Asriel for a moment. “maybe because you never had made a friendly chat with the **source**.” There is a single similarity with everyone who had unlocked the ability to manifest a SOUL trait, which some of them had overlooked, and the realization had just occurred when they finally noticed who Sans was referring to. He also looks at Frisk, with his usual grin. “can’t say how it all happened, but it leads to the kids.” Recalling all the people they had interacted and befriended with, there were many.

                But the change itself became noticeable after they had reached the surface. Sans couldn’t proceed with everyone being able to gain a SOUL trait just because Frisk had befriended all of them, and not only that but that goes the same for Asriel, who had befriended some humans, unless both of them befriended a human or a monster. It still didn’t occur to Sans after his interaction with both of them, and that goes the same for the others. “meh, maybe because we need to interact with someone we can be compatible with. just like bianca n’ alphys.”

                Asriel also realized something; when he first shook hands with Rance, a light glow appears. Not like how they can purge a seed off of a person’s body. “How about you and the professor?” he asks curiously. Dunkelheit and Sans looked at one another for a moment before looking back at the others. “No, nothing.” The professor could comment, while Sans also couldn’t say that as well. “The only hypothesis we were able to formulate about the SOUL traits is that when humans and monsters interact with one another, who are both compatible with one another. Friends, Lovers, Comrades, and other.”

                “we can’t make a fixed conclusion with just one cool person. and since it can also trigger from the kids, we need to run more tests.” Sans could only suggest at the time being, while shrugging off the unnecessary thoughts on his head. Something seems to be bothering him. “it’s better than taking a SOUL by force.” he added. Going back, King Farlon, Darvenshel, King Asgore, and Toriel feel the need to share something about their search mission. “This may be an addition to your studies.” King Farlon stood up from his chair, and closed his eyes. For a moment, there was a seemingly light **yellow** glow from his chest. “This happens whenever I am thinking of  what is best for both the Kingdoms and the future of our children.”

                “A **Yellow** SOUL.” Dunkelheit couldn’t believe it with his eyes alone, while Sans felt that it was expected to happen. “I, also.” Darvenshel didn’t need to stand up and made something inside him glow. Even underneath his hard plating, the SOUL he has was bright **light blue**. “It just happens when I was waiting for North to wake up, yesterday.” East and South stood up, making their chairs fall behind them. “What is going on, here?!” South asks out loud. “This event may have been related when we were looking for our children, when we were driving off the **dark souls** from my son.” Asgore suggests.

                “From **our son** , Gorey.” Toriel corrects him as she tries to hold his hand. As soon as their fingers entwine, their SOULS also resonate with a mix of color. Asgore’s SOUL color is separately in two: **green** and **violet**. While Toriel’s SOUL has **blue** and **light-blue**. “A multi-colored SOUL? I will need all for of you to answer my survey questions after this presentation!” There was a flicker of light and fire in Dunkelheit’s eyes. Something new has been shared and discovered, and it narrows down with the involvement of the children. To him, things are becoming more interesting. It is also becoming interesting for Sans, in a bad way.

* * *

 

                At around 10am at the West City Hospital, Rance slowly open his eyes in his wake. The sun was brightly shining on his face, as he sits up and covers his eyes. In a little while, he held his head in pain with his vision recalling his hands soaked in blood. Like a television under static reception, he saw a faint image of a floor messy with dust, hay and a pool of crimson. Later, it becomes a floor with fine carpet stained with dead bodies and such. Lastly, he recalled something that was out of place.

                A dark room. with a single spotlight shining on the middle. Where it shone was the flower monster making a cheerful expression. There was nothing else he could remember but the short message it conveyed to him. “ _Human who bears the **Determination** , will you see it through the end of the journey?_” It didn’t make sense whatsoever, nor does he remember when and where he saw the flower. It was out of nowhere. He shook his head awake, to see that he is still laying on his bed, leaning on the comfy pillow. “This is no time for me to get rest.” He said to himself. It didn’t take long before he went to the counter, and requested for his attire.

                Unfortunately, his chest plate and shirt were damaged. His armor attachments are still not yet cleaned from the drench of blood and poison he caused, but his footwear and pants were washed. They happen to just lend him a new white shirt as a temporary top wear. His phone and other possessions were also returned to him, cleared and polished from the stains he made. Even his wallet is still intact, but the amount has been reduced. As he checks his phone’s battery life, he saw the date and realized that he’s been out of commission for more than a day.

                “Uh, sir Rance!” One of the nurses went to ask him personally. He was carrying a chart board with him, as he tells the warrior that he should stay for a little while longer. “Why is that? I need to get back to my job.” The warrior brushes off any form of worry. “We cannot allow you to leave without answering a few questions.” In irritation, he feels like slamming the other’s head to a wall. That thought bothered him all of the sudden, and shook it off. Something is wrong with him, for him to think of that method as a solution to the problem. “Okay, where do I need to answer them?” he changes his mind.

                He was seated to a clinical room, while Doc Mercy was looking at the board delivered to him by the male nurse. The doctor keeps clicking his pen on and off, while seriously reading the paper, pacing back and forth. In his pause of clicking, he turns to the warrior and asks, “So Rance. What made you think that taking an arrow shot to the heart is a good idea?” He sounded dead serious about it. “I was supposed to stop the arrow by **grabbing it**. I didn’t expect it to be a **power shot**.” He reasons. The doctor resumes clicking his pen on and off again, with a train of thought passing through his head. “And were you aware that the arrow was **poisoned**?”

                “After I [ **pulled it out of my chest** ].” He looks down. Doc Mercy slams his chart board on his head, before lifting it up to see how the warrior would react. Rance simply rubbed his head to comfort it, while he couldn’t give a better reason. “What you did was completely **relentless and idiotic**!” he was very loud, almost sounding like a cranky old man. “Did you even consider the fact that many people will fall out of order if you die?! Not to mention, your Majesty and his daughter, also care for you!”

                Rance looks irritated and snaps back. “And what would have happened if your Higness was the one who got shot in the heart? Wouldn’t that have caused an even greater uproar for all four cities?” his glare was more threatening than usual, and the doctor fell silent. The warrior adds, “Not to mention, the person who fired the arrow was Frisk herself. To be specific, a **shadow of the former Queen** , taking over the princess into killing her own father. Everyone was caught in a weird trance at that time, and I wasn’t able to react fast enough to even deflect the shot.”

                “Do you have proof that they were caught in a trance?” Doc Mercy asks in suspicion. “… It would’ve been easier if I do have physical evidence. But from what I can say is, ask **her**. She pretty much owns her city, maybe she has her own witnesses.” He stands up from his chair and leaves through the doorway. “And here I thought I was going to take a psychological test. What a waste of time.” The doctor rushes outside of the room, shouting “Hey, wait!” He was too late; the warrior was already gone. Doc looks around the hospital, but he’s no longer there.

                “Strange, I thought that for a second… I saw his eyes **glow in crimson red**.”

* * *

 

                A few minutes later, Rance was already walking at his city streets at North City. Nothing much has changed, and he has a choice to where he should go first. He could go back to the HQ and do the workload he missed for the past couple of days, or he could go check his house if it needs some restocking. Not to mention, he wasn’t able to monitor Seven’s action due to his absences. “Where should I drop by first?” he asks himself, while thinking and walking aimlessly.

[ **His Workplace** ]               [ ♥ **His House** ]

                In his preferred choice, he could go to his workplace. But there are some problems if he chooses the other. The soldiers and others will ask him a lot of questions, and the fact that his house [ **wasn’t locked** ] could lead to potential unwanted robbery. Not to mention, Seven might be there eating his chocolates. That last idea bothered him the most. “If I catch that bastard eating my chocolate, I will **murder** him.” He comments to himself.

                His body feels really light, and recalled that he might have had surgeries. It didn’t occur to him that Doc Mercy might have been the one who’s been keeping him alive for the longest. He felt his chest, where the heart punched through: nothing. There was not a single scar on his flesh, or any unwanted shapes, either. Maybe someone used magic to heal him. “Toriel may have healed me.” He was talking to himself. He was just around the corner to his apartment, and he feels uneasy. ‘I wonder who took care of my house?’ he thought to himself.

                The moment he got to the front door, he could see that there was something wrong from the inside. By the windows, he could see that there’s a big pile of mess, a strange colored fur ball with a weird large person-body figure laying on the couch. He doesn’t remember bringing any pets at home, nor does he ever thought of bringing one. For a while, a lion tail reveals itself from the pile as it flicks around, and then he noticed someone familiar. The fur turns out to be a lion mane, and as it turns over to the window-view reveals Giga, sleeping in his yellow pajamas with white rabbit heads all over. A bubble grows and shrinks from his nose hole. He quietly opens the door, and sees an even bigger mess.

                The kitchen sink is filled with plates, the living room table is filled with empty bag of chips, with remains littered around the floor. Some glasses were tipped over, leaking down liquids that can be distinguished as ‘soda’. And a bottle of coke was lying near the TV, which is playing a video of a cat anime eating ice cream with friends. A familiar monster in science robes and nurse are sleeping by the bookshelf, with comics littered on the floor, and some are just above their heads. They were even holding a book as they sleep.

Rance listens quietly, as he could hear the slightest ripple of waters. It is coming in the bathroom. He tiptoes his way there, and finds Undyne under the bathtub. Her feet and arms are just outside of the tub, while most of her are underwater. The faucet is leaking droplets, but overnight it leads to a portion of mess. She’s fast asleep, maybe wasted from whatever they did. There is no sign of Seven Gears anywhere, and why are the other monsters in his house? He bothers to go to his bedroom. As soon as he opens the door, he finds the missing two, sleeping on his bed. Dianne cuddling Seven, with her chest over the gun man’s face. She might not be aware of what she’s doing, while that goes the same for the other. He doesn’t look like he minds at all. They’re still fast asleep.

                It looks like they may have partied hard, without his permission. But judging from the pattern, the chips, and the cartoon showing; Dianne may have planned her own partying. ‘A celebration, maybe?’ he could quietly tell himself. He goes back down to the main floor, and starts grabbing his cleaning materials. “Maybe it was a wise decision for me to even go back home…” he said to himself. He starts cleaning the mess as quiet as possible, while a familiar golden flower peeks from one of the windows. It looks like it is happy.

* * *

 

                11:30am. Seven Gears slowly opens his eyes in his wake. He could stand up and yawn, but he felt like something was weighing him down. He looks sideways, and noticed that Dianne is hugging his head with her chest. Slowly, he regains consciousness, and then he finally wakes up to see what felt soft. From down stairs, the warrior already finished cleaning up almost everything without waking the others. The bookshelf was cleaned up; the books that were laid and used last night were neatly returned to their shelves. The leftover snacks and empty wrappers, as well as the cups and bottles were removed.

                Rance took the liberty of putting the sleeping scientist and nurse to the other couch, with spare blankets wrapped around them, while the sleeping lion man was also given a blanket. The dropped pieces and residue of soda were swept and mopped. The excess water in the bathroom was also drained, and the TV was turned off. It is strange for him, who is known to be fast and very noisy in battle, to be also fast and quiet when working on something. The last thing he is doing is cleaning the dishes. There was a scream at his bedroom of two people, which woke up everyone who were in different places of his house.

                Rance did not flinch when a sudden burst of cry echoes around the apartment building, and the scream did not last long, but the others were alerted. Giga suddenly sits up, with eyes droopy and sleepy. Bianca and Alphys did the same, but their eyes open wide, looking around and asking different questions “Who, what, where?!” and “W-w-what, is there a fire?!” at the same time. There was a loud splash sound coming from the bathroom, as the fish royal guard walks to the living room, drenching the floor with water. “WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?!” The three who just woke up looked at Undyne, wondering what happened. But she noticed someone right away from the counters of the kitchen: It was Rance quietly doing the dishes.

                “RANCE, WHAT HAPPENED?!” she first asked. The warrior answered, “Just the love birds surprised to see how they were positioned in bed.” He looks at her with a neutral expression. He immediately looks at the glass he is wiping, and added “Please dry yourself up before you get out of the tub next time.” Rance sounded casual. In the three’s wake, they realized that the monster royal guard was talking to the warrior. “Oh, that won’t be a problem!” she gloats. Undyne grips her hand as if she was holding a spear, and the trail of water flows to her hand. In a few moments, the floor became dry, as she conjures her own water spear with the drench.

                Bianca took notice of it, and asks. “Wow, so Undyne can **water bend**?” while Alphys rubs her eyelids awake, before putting her glasses back on. “Oh, that’s not all I can do.” She gives a menacing grin, as she feels like doing the obvious: lunging the made spear towards the warrior. “What?! Rance!” she looks back to see him. In his response to the launched projectile, he didn’t even try to dodge or flinch. Instead, he took out a dirty plate, and blocked the attack. The water spear looked solid, but as soon as it made contact with his impromptu shield, it breaks down into liquid. The dirty plate became clean, but it looks like Undyne isn’t done with her attack. “I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!” she jumps into battle.

                Rance puts away the last dish, and climbs on top of the counter. He has a frying pan ready as another impromptu shield. The monster royal guard didn’t hesitate to charge in, with several projectiles coming to the human. It didn’t stop him from blocking the launched spears, before he is forced to block the incoming downward melee swing. The spear did not break into water this time; it was completely solid. But it looked like a small splash was made in his block. “What is going on, here?!” Giga asks in watch. Rance’s frying pan and Undyne’s water spear have clashed, as both do their best to out-push the other. It sounded like two metal weapons were scratching one another.

                “Rnnnngaaahhhhh!” Undyne tries to push harder, with her arm muscles showing better physique. “Grrrrrrraaaahhhh!” Rance replies as he muster all his strength. The sleeves of his shirt are starting to rip, as both are pushing themselves to the limit. The look in their faces are dead serious, while Alphys, Bianca and Giga couldn’t respond to their breathtaking clash. Out of nowhere, chains from the side extend towards both their wrists, and manages to catch both of them. The spear breaks down into liquid, drenching the side of the counter. While the warrior was forced to drop his frying pan.

                They both looked at the origins of the chain, to see Dianne holding the retractor of her chains with her right, while the base length with her left. “What on Capital are you two doing?!” she furiously asks. “Another person answers the question. “Your brother really likes to fight, huh Anne?” Seven is in front of the stairs, aiming his silver revolver at them. The warrior jumps down from the counter, with the frying pan below his feet. The monster royal guard felt the need to look at the two. She is feeling something weird, as her hands were bonded with him.

                “Well, aren’t you going to ask the lady, boss?” The gun man jests a question. “… Just fooling around in the morning, like you two.” The poker face expression from Rance pretty much means a lot in his answer to Seven’s question. The two suddenly looked flustered; blushing and looking embarrassed. “Y-you saw that?!” the gun man drops his gun, and it fired diagonally upward. The projectile pattern went straight to the chains, and breaks into two. The bullet lands on the ceiling, leaving a mark. “W-w-why didn’t you wake us up?!” Dianne’s chains slowly retract back from her hand to the contraption, as she drops it. “Uhh, because it looked like you two were sleeping peacefully?”

                The warrior and the monster royal guard starts to rub their wrist in comfort. “Are you two screwing around?” Undyne bothers to ask. Seven goes to Dianne’s side, “ **No, we’re not!** ” he and Dianne said at the same time. Bianca jumps from her bed, gleefully asking Rance. “Can we sleep together, one day?” like a child expecting a yes, she disregarded the fact that everyone’s watching. “… Sure.” His face turns slightly red, turning his head away. “Okay! I’ll bring my pajamas tonight!” she jumps with glee.

                It didn’t take long before she remembered something. “Wait, why were you hospitalized again?!” from the cheery person into a furious girl. “Because I saved the king from being assassinated by his own shadowed wife? Because I took an arrow to the heart, only to find out that it was poisoned? Nothing new, really.” It was still okay for him to answer question with a poker face, as if it happens all the time; it sounded like he’s trying to state the obvious. “What’s with you..?” the nurse felt hurt that it sounded like Rance didn’t care that he could have lost his life. “Why are you making it into a habit? Do you really want to die that badly?!”

                There’s a questionably calm look in his eyes. “There should have been another way to save him! You could have pushed him away!” the nurse tries to reason, while Dianne turns her head to the next responder. “If I did that, then the other soldier would have been killed. Peterson isn’t the type of person who would want to lose his life with debts in his conscience.” Rance gives a fair rebuttal. “How about—“ Before Bianca could even finish, the warrior breaks through. “[ **I didn’t have my spear** ] at that time. Not only that, but I was also not aware of the events until I actually got there.” Sweat drops from the side of her temple, while her hair falls a little to her cheek. “I also tried [ **knocking the imposter** ], but the rock simply went through. I also couldn’t bring myself to hurt the possessed child.”

Rance blocked her suggestions with battle-based logics, as well as his failed actions to stop the attacker. She is about to break down into tears, until Giga stands up and makes his comment. “ **Please put more thought in what you say, Rance. Everyone was worried about you.** ” The unnecessary tension around them seems to slowly fade away. “…I’m sorry, Bianca. I was just…” he looks down, starting to think of the people who cares for him. “ **You did well to protect your king, but as young Bianca tries to tell you. You shouldn’t** [ **needlessly throw away your life** ] **, just like that.** ”

His thoughts are drifting away while the lion man lectures him about them giving him a long term surgery. “I just…needed to protect…” His eyes glow in crimson red, while his SOUL becomes a visible blinking beacon. He is **Determined to protect** the people he cares about, without regards to everyone else’s feelings or his life. But he’s not aware of that. “R-Rance?” Alphys noticed it, too. But she’s the first to call out his name. “What is it?” he looks forward, while everyone else starts to look at him. It didn’t take long, before his heart-shaped SOUL becomes more obvious. “Huh?!” they were all shocked. A ** deep-crimson red colored SOUL**. But Rance couldn’t notice it. His mind is somewhere else.

‘I can’t let anyone die. I’m **Determined** to make sure of that, and see it through the end. _Even if it costs me my own life_.’

“R-Rance?” Bianca asks, while personally seeing both of his eyes flicker on and off. “Hey, what the heck is going on?!” Undyne decides to punch him in the face, as it snaps the warrior back to reality. She looked concerned, as well as everyone else. Their cries were finally heard. Other than that punch, the nurse also tried slapping him. The sound of her palm hitting the other cheek was loud enough for anyone inside the house to hear. “… Huh?” finally, he completely regains his focus.

“Man, that felt good.” The monster royal guard comments. “LET’S DO THAT AGAIN!” she gives a grin, getting ready to punch. “Hey, Rance. You suddenly fazed like a rock there.” Seven gives an indecisive look, while he puts with his silver revolver to the back of his shoulders as if he was carrying a bag. Dianne quietly watches him; a plain stare from his sister is mostly odd. “ **It looks like you are still not well, young Rance. Why don’t you go back to bed?** ” the lion man suggests.

“Oh my gosh!” Alphys retorts out loud with her phone held to her left side of her head. “Bianca, it’s Professor Dunkelheit. H-he wants to speak with you!” she stutters and passes her phone. As soon as the other gets the phone, she was about to say ‘hello?’ Dunkelheit butts in first. “Why, yes. Good moral, my pupil. If you may, [ **call your father** ] immediately to have everyone in the household check? And bring your notes with you. This is urgent!” Bianca almost dropped the phone, before asking “Why, what happened?”

“The Royal Guard and King, as well as the Monster King and Queen. They obtain their SOUL traits! Their SOULS are brightly shining, like lights! You must come here this instant!” he commands, and judging from his tone of voice, he's excited to learn more of the occurring events. “Uh, Professor. I will also bring Rance there.” She hesitates to suggest. “His SOUL also glowed for a while now.”

“And it’s in **deep-crimson red** color.”

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? Not too much, especially with many people going through a conversation. My mind stops working as soon as I think of three or more people talking at the same time. 
> 
> ~~So far the development about the first review of what they have gathered has suddenly turn into a surprising twist, especially with the Northern Royal Guard. Is there really something wrong with Rance Vor? The same goes to his sister, who went quiet while he was in a trance-like state? Will there be any more development after the SOUL-glowing occurrences?~~
> 
> ~~Sadly, Asriel tried to butt in with the whole idea at the wrong time. Maybe he has a reason for thinking of that. Why would that be? But among everyone in the story, Asriel currently has a lot. '...' SOUL traits. Be sure to check out the previous extras, in order for you to tell what color they are.~~


	21. Fear's Grip and Fiend's Grip (part two: piece one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here with the new update of Seed of Flowey. Are you ready to read the upcoming story fluctuations? Good luck, Have fun reading, and Be Safe. 
> 
> For those who don't know, part and piece are different. **Parts** of the story are story pieces separated into three to make sure it doesn't become long, while **Pieces** of the story are parts that are within the story, but in different time frames. Right now, I'm using both for one part of the story.

                1:00PM at Frisk’s household, the Throne room. Everyone, including Undyne, Giga, Seven, Bianca, Alphys, and Dianne are looking at Rance, who is seated on a chair with the projector lights set to plain white. The light of the projector is panned towards him, but for some reason his SOUL continues to pulse like a heartbeat. It is strange for a human to have his SOUL pulsing like a beacon, while it is dyed in deep crimson red. “I’m telling you. I’m fine.” Rance gave a skeptical response, but no one believed him. Asriel and Frisk were just as surprised as everyone else. His ‘Determination’ is uniquely different from theirs. Bianca couldn’t make a solid hypothesis just by saying what they can really do with the red soul. At the same time, she can’t declare that determination is a trait.

                “First of all, Determination is not like the other six mentioned.” The nurse is going to clarify something. “Determination is more of a [ **state of mind** ] than a trait. And everyone has it.” Dunkelheit cannot point this out for a reason, and may have hypothesized it wrong. “Can you explain this to us?” King Farlon asks calmly and curiously. Bianca gives her point, “This may differ from my mentor, but from how I observed it back then, it is a [ **strength of Will and Mindset** ] for a person or a monster. Most monsters have little of this, almost close to none. Unlike humans, who have made up their mind on something.”

                “But, our children, Asriel and Frisk. Their Determination…” Toriel tries to point something out. “Yes, their Determination is very strong that it materializes into physical form. This is beyond scientific explanation, but it can be compared with a psychological placebo.” She starts to throw out complicated words. “In short, their focus for something becomes close to magical.” Rance fidgets a little from his seat, and gives his word. “Based from Asriel’s first training, his attacks suddenly became stronger than usual. Like a [ **self-boosting power** ].” The nurse butts in, saying “I don’t think that’s the right description for that!”

                She walks up to Asriel and Frisk, and lends her hand. “Can I ask you both to stay somewhat close to Rance?” they nodded and takes her offer. The parents of the two children hesitate to show their word of caution, since the warrior has becoming more of a threat to everyone, including himself. “Please do not make them stay near him for too long.” King Asgore said it. “Knowing my boyfriend, he wouldn’t do anything rash.” She sounds confident. The lives of the future generation kids are on her hands.

                Bianca places them both in between the warrior. But from their given distance, it’s not too close or too far from Rance. Asriel raises his hand diagonally down to cover his eyes from the projector light. Frisk has her eyes seem close, and from the given situation Sans dims the brightness by a quarter. “better, kid?” the short skeleton asks. They just nodded with a slight smile. Rance gives a frown expression, that both the professor and the skeleton were handling the projector lights. It’s not that he could do so, with all three Royal Guards and the King to probably support Dunkelheit’s decision.

                “Now, can I ask all three of you to think of the things that will give you **Determination**?” Bianca asks nicely. They did so in different gestures. Frisk only closed her eyes and stood for a while, thinking that showing her Determination to help them find out more about it, filled her with **Determination.** Asriel also did the same, but it looked more like he had something else in mind. Both their SOULs glow in red, but with a different unique shade. Frisk’s SOUL resembles a rose red color, while Asrie’s SOUL resembles a ruby red color. Rance did last, but he didn’t close his eyes for a wishful thinking.

                His SOUL beats rapidly like a heartbeat, giving a potent crimson red color. It is somewhat darker than the other two. “I see.” Dianne walks up front with arms crossed on her waist. “What my brother said is close, but he said like it is something small. Their SOULs’ ability boosts their overall capability by a large ratio. The more they are fixated with something, the more they will push through with that resolve.” Giga takes notice of the papers used to explain the SOUL traits while observing how it is different for the two girls’ answers. “ **I’d like to ask. Why is young Bianca’s answer different from the guy with a gentleman attire?** ”

                The warrior butts in, “That’s because Sir **Dunk-it-right** covers everything but psychological studies!” it was a rude response, but Sans can’t help but chuckle at what Rance called the professor. “hehehe. for a meat puppet, that’s pretty good.” Papyrus couldn’t help retorting back at his brother. “And who asked you to answer the lion man’s question?” The professor couldn’t help acting like a jerk to him Rance snaps back, “It IS an open question. And you should know that, right?” A heated response really puts him on edge.

                “Both of you, cease your nonsense!” the human king exclaims his word, which had put everyone’s reserved words into a halt. He knew when to make to stop a problem, before it could even arise. His words also had stopped the two from making a heated response to one another. King Farlon massages his forehead with a stressed expression, before mentioning “You two really don’t get along.” Frisk couldn’t avoid speaking on her father’s behalf. “Please, don’t fight. We’re in a middle of a discussion.” The professor turns away from the warrior. Rance crossed his arms and turns his eyes away from him without a second thought.

                “ **So, does that mean that both of you did not share your findings?** ” the lion man voiced that they did not communicate both findings. “We were supposed to meet up at a given time, but I did not expect my pupil to be late.” Their attention shifts to Bianca, and an awkward silence fills the room. “I-I…” she is red in the face. “I apologize for that…” she just bends down. Asriel joins the conversion. “It’s not her fault…because…she needs to rest sometimes.” He is trying to be reasonable. “Even so…” Darvenshel wants to intervene. “It’s not like she can handle everything under pressure.” Rance interrupts him.

                Everyone is voicing their views, whether she was okay with being late. As the professor mentions that their meeting was supposed to be 9:00AM and prepares by 10:00AM. The findings regarding to the SOULs conflicts with one another. Toriel and Seven hadn’t joined the quarrel with everyone else, and all their voices were getting on their nerves. Frisk, Rance, Asriel, Giga, Alphys, and Undyne were in favor of allowing the nurse’s tardiness, while King Farlon, King Asgore, Dunkelheit, Darvenshel, South and East are not.

                Sans and Papyrus are just being quiet, only because Sans is acting as the silent judge. While Papyrus couldn’t decide which to support. Their sound of reasoning in an argument is all over the place, and it is making him mentally steam. “PSST. HEY, SANS. WHICH ONE SHOULD WE SUPPORT?” the tall skeleton asks in whisper; unlike his words, it really was a whisper compared to the noise. “i dunno, ask [ **tori and s’ven** ].” He shrugs it off with a wink and a grin. He doesn’t care, either way. His ear holes are focused on everyone else, while his eye holes are directed at the warrior arguing with the others. Bianca tries to give her word, “Excuse me… I was late because…” no one was listening. “Could everyone please stop…?” she tries again, but their words are even louder.

                All their words are starting to overwhelm her, as she trembles on the floor. “Be reasonable!”, “It’s not her fault!”, “She should’ve stayed at the library!”, “What is going?”, “What is the given conclusion?”, “Just stop this and admit that you’re wrong!” the children are at their limit in arguing as they sit down silently. While the adults are still going strong, someone chuckles at the corner. “ **ENOUGH!** ” a single piercing voice broke their chain of argument and into silence.

                The rogue, who was silenced for a while finally spoke on the nurse’s behalf. “Does it matter that she’s late or not? She knows something that the professor doesn’t!” she asks everyone that question. Nobody even noticed that Bianca was already sitting on the floor, crying on her knees. “Look what you guys did! Now she can’t give her voice of opinion.” Dianne points to her friend. It was unprofessional for the nurse to do that, but it’s not like she could stay patient and let them fight among each other. “yep. everyone’s just goin’ in circles because of that.” Sans walks closer to Bianca.

                Just before the skeleton brothers could even touch her, she quickly and ran away saying “JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!” exiting the throne room without turning back. Alphys and Rance called her name at the same time. “Bianca, come back!” the rogue gives a disappointing sneer at everyone else. “It was [ **my fault** ] that she’s late. I should be the one taking the blame… But right now, I’m going to look for her!” she jolts to the door. She blurs away with words full of malice. “ ** _I’m disappointed in every one of you._** ” No one could retort back. No one wanted to retort back to her. No song of cheers, forceful disciplinary actions, or favorable merits could break the chains of distrust.

                The Kings and Queen, the Monk and Trickshooter, The Royal Guards, and everyone else were shocked that they were misled by a single argument. It’s not like them to be put in that situation, but the short skeleton couldn’t blame them. Toriel looks up and runs to the exit door. “I’m looking for her, too!” it was selfish of her to dash by herself. ‘Tori, wait!—“ Asgore extends his arm to the caretaker, but she cuts him off. “No, you stay here with everyone else. And **[think about what you have done!]** ” she was angry enough to imply that to everyone else. Seven joins her, “Wait! You might get lost!” he says out loud from the halls. Alphys, Papyrus, and Undyne also joins them. “Wait for us!” they dashed outside.

                Frisk comes up to Sans. “You know something, don’t you?” she looks annoyed. “I never saw Giga [ **move his mouth and said the last one** ].” She testifies. “yep, and everyone fell into a domino effect.” Sans gives a jest. His focus is purely focused on the warrior. If he had already noticed it, he should’ve at least said something. Instead, he watched everyone fight one another. It was odd for the disciplined and educated ones to force a meaningless argue. “welp, it’s not like i can do anything about that. i mean, they were call caught up in a **thorny situation**.”

                Asgore, Farlon and Giga are talking among each other. “ **No, I didn’t say that**.” the lion man tries to clarify. “I was not aware of the problem.” The human king shakes his head, feeling slightly dizzy. “It is unusual for us to bicker over something small.” The monster king gives his thought. The three of them suddenly feel as if time skipped a beat on them. Dunkelheit couldn’t believe it himself. “I just…scolded my best pupil?” there was something amiss, and Asriel is starting to suspect that Flowey was around the corner. All distractions were put from a confusing taunt into a clueless confusion. Frisk and Asriel went behind the projector stand.

                “Frisk?” the goat child looks like he wants to do something. Judging from his eyes, the human child already understands what he’s planning on asking.

Will you go after Toriel?

[Yes, I should]                                    [♥ **No, you should** ]

                “I’ll stay here and keep both dads from fighting. I also feel like Flowey’s toying with us.” she states the obvious. “Yeah. Keep them from fighting…I think that you’re the only one who can stop [ **those two** ] from fighting.” They look at Rance and Sans. Their sights with one another is growing more intense, as the others were busy talking with one another. Darvenshel, and South were arguing about something. “I have to go.” Asriel dashes back and casts a small puff of flame at himself; his physical form disappears with the small puff of smoke while noticeable footsteps continue to fade. The door opens behind them and closes by itself. The princess looks back and notices a flower behind South.

                It suddenly hid itself from sight. She goes to the back, only to see that there’s nothing there anymore. Adult talks complicate things for her, and decides to go back to her seat. “So, what do you want to happen?” The warrior states in an aggravated tone. “i dunno. maybe if you leave the kid alone, or disappear. then, that would be great.” The short skeleton answers with slack. Both their eyes are putting up a massive static with one another. “How about we settle this at the training room?” Rance’s SOUL gives a red wave of pulse, which somehow got everyone’s attention. It acted like a wide area scan, and it showed that everyone but Darvenshel and Giga had a black small dot on the side of their necks.

                Sans doesn’t have any dots, but the wave that passed through him made him frown. In his eyes, he sees a small familiar child, holding a knife with a creepy smile on its face. King Farlon notices that the two are about to start another small-scale war, and Frisk rushes in between the two. “Please, don’t fight!” she pleads for mercy. “No, Frisk. I don’t think I could spare myself to break his bones.” Rance’s tone of voice became low and vicious. “i wonder if the dog could **bite** harder than it could **bark**.”

                Sans doesn’t feel like holding back with his insults. He doesn’t see the warrior as a human. He never did. “I bet that dog can **break your bones** before it could even **bite** you.” Frisk is becoming worried, as the heat between them is becoming worse and worse.  A rapier was thrown in the middle of them, impaling the ground and a meter safe away from the child. “Both of you, stop this at once!” The human king’s commands echoed like thunder. King Asgore doesn’t look pleased either. “This is the first time I’ve seen North angry at someone.” Darvenshel comments. “He has a way with words, but now he’s like he was let loose.” South sneers.

                “If both of you can’t cool down, then settle this with a **Duel**.” East’s suggestion got their attention; they looked more eager to fight one another and nodded once without looking away. “I, uh. Can’t you two settle this with a cup of tea?” Frisk is still flabbergasted by the intensity, that her Determination did not fill up like always. “Sorry, Frisk. One way to get this feeling off my system.” Rance somewhat kindly suggested. “same here, kid. this is personal.” No jested puns this time. “East, what are you doing?! Why are you suggesting them to fight?” King Farlon asks with great authority.

                “It is the warrior’s code. If one problem cannot be settled with reason, then they should resolve this with the test of combat. It is the most efficient solution given.” Among the most logically calm, East takes the cake. “That is wise, but I don’t think that it would just end with someone being beaten.” Darvenshel gives his suggestion. “I…can agree with that.” It looks like two of the Royal Guards are having second thoughts with the fight. “Rance, this will only be considered [ **Duel Training** ].” King Farlon rubs the bridge of his nose with his eyes pinched closed. King Asgore is also keeping an eye on Sans. “Sans, I will only allow this once. But do not kill him.”

                Both made a declaration, and Frisk's attempts to stop them was basically useless. “ **Young one. You must not stand by near the adults who are angry**.” Giga beckons her to come back to her father’s side. She felt useless that she is powerless to do anything to stop them. Even if she had her  Umbrella and Hobby Horse, Rance could easily flash to another place in a dodge, while Sans can simply teleport or even take away the child’s possession with a snap of his fingers. Frisk is in a very tight situation, and she can’t seem to do anything at the moment. She would’ve wondered if Asriel was in her shoes. ‘What would he do at a time like this?’

* * *

 

                Toriel was about to rush out to the front hall exit, but a group of people followed. “TORIEL, WAIT FOR US!” Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Seven are bursting out of the other door, rushing towards her. “We’ll help you look for Bianca!” Undyne gives a confident attitude. “Sh-she’s also our friend. We can’t let her go a-at a time like this!’ Alphys is staying true to her newfound friend. “I’m also worried about Dianne. She’s never disappointed in someone!” Seven gives his worries. Even she was acting strange. “Everyone…” the caretaker feels happy that a lot of them agreed to look for the nurse. “Let us go?” she asks with a smile. Everyone nods with confidence, and opens the door.

                It was weird, the smile of confidence was broken by the unknown. The day outside turned to night, but based from how much time they spent just inside the household. “We only spent a few hours! It should be afternoon!” Undyne exclaims. Papyrus felt unease by the darkness; it was a familiar and a terrifying feeling for him. “NYEH? EHHHH?!” his eyes bobble up, surprising everyone. “What’s wrong?” Seven asks him.  “WE’RE HERE AGAIN.” The sensation he’s feeling was the same as when Gaster dragged Frisk into another side of the world.

* * *

 

                The side alley, everything’s dark and gloomy. Almost as if life never existed in the Human’s Capital. Dianne continues to dash around the city. With great speed and scouting, she was able to cover both East and South City within minutes. Jumping from one building to another, similar to a real assassin with the speed of sound. Her eyes track every inch of the city streets, and even from a sky-view she can spot the inside of the buildings. There are some blind spots in the city, but there are tendencies that her hearing allows her to tell if someone is there or not.

                “Bianca, where are you?” she stops at a singular lamp post that has light, while all other light posts are not on. She looks around, only to see that she’s at front of Rance’s home. There were no signs of life at all. “What’s happening here?” she asks herself. “ _Hello, friend_.” A voice of a child could be heard, south-east from her direction. The light from the light post goes dim, revealing a small armless figure under the shade of darkness. The voice was familiar; “Monster Ki—“ she turns her head to see that the colored monster is different.

                An armless monster, with a color of grey instead of green or yellow, while its stripes were black. It’s pupils are gone, and its expression is close to something that is dead. “ _What brings you to this world?_ ” it asks curiously. The only light around them is the light-gray moon. The light and shadow becomes enough to allow them to see something out of the darkness, even if it was dim. “I’m looking for my friend. She’s—“ the rogue was going to give the details, but a sudden feeling of danger surrounds her. The lifeless monster tilts its head to the side, looking at them curiously. “ _Is it that one injured girl somewhere?_”

                “ _Don’t worry. She’s going to be fine. Your friends are currently there saving them. You should be more concerned with your situation…_ ” the light around her grounds become dark, and soon black shadows turn into string of tentacle hands. It starts to wrap around her body with a grip tighter than that of a machine. “What--!” Dianne couldn’t move, even with her struggles. “ _Human, who holds the SOUL trait **Kindness**. I want to see your **Cruelty**.”_

Show it your…

[♥ **Kindness** ]                      [Cruelty]

                Weird that she was called by her SOUL trait by some imitation of Monster Kid. “… Okay.” she closed her eyes, with a slow inhale. The tentacle hands slowly ungripped on her limbs. Her SOUL glows in **green**. “ _… that’s right. I want to feel the warmth of someone’s **Kindness**._ ” The virtuous glow slowly burns off the shadow. “… _thank you…_ ” the warm light blankets the colorless monster, and later it turns to dust. The thought of her hugging her, became impossible. “… I think all they need is the warmth of someone’s love and care…” she felt guilty that something has twisted the thought of a monster, for it to become lifeless. She shook her head, and thought to herself. “I need to keep going.” Her chest feels somewhat light, as she gives a troubled sigh. “Bianca…where are you…?”

* * *

 

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIMimINF5pM)] The group of monsters and human proceed to the night-side of the Human Capital. The guards are still there, standing in guard. But they don’t seem to notice anything wrong; they look seriously stiff from the group’s eyes. “Uhhh…” Alphys tries holding them, but her hand went through. “What the--?” it was weird. “Hey, Bob. Did you feel something?” the guard turns his attention to asks the other. “No, must be the wind.” The other answered in stern. “This is weird.” Alphys comments. They start to navigate through the cities. It was dark, but it was strange that there were few city lights on to help them. As they go to the city, it looked like there were less buildings. The whole capital may had building reductions, as Seven could recall each city having more than 200 buildings.

                “Papyrus, what do you mean by ‘here again’?” Alphys asks him. The tall skeleton looks cheerful. “THIS PLACE WAS WHEN GASTER ALMOST KIDNAPPED FRISK FROM US.” everyone looks back at him. “What do you mean?” Toriel looks nervous. “BUT DON’T WORRY. WE BEAT GASTER’S ILLUSIONS LIKE IT WAS NOTHING.” He is filled with Bravery. Lost in the city, with people passing by, passing through the physical forms of the group. “Papyrus, will you tell us what illusions did you face, will you not?” Toriel gives her concerns.

                “WELL. FROM WHAT WE FACED. WE BATTLED AGAINST TWO HUMANS, AND AN ILLUSION OF RANCE.” The concern grows, and the caretaker already has a hint which two people the tall skeleton is talking about. “ONE WAS BARE-FISTED, AND ANOTHER WITH A GUN.” Toriel was right, the three hospitalized humans, who once lost his eyesight while the other has lost his ability to feel his lower body, are the same people that were involved in an accident. They continue forward, and noticed that some buildings looked the same. They continue to walk around, aimlessly looking for Bianca. “Hey, Gun brat.” Undyne was blunt about Seven’s nickname.

                “You know around this place?” she asks him, since he’s lived in North City for some time. “Not this time.” He answers with an unsure expression. He continues to look around and continues with his statement. “Everything looks differently. It’s like we’re in another world.” Ahead in front of where the warrior’s apartment should be, lies Bianca on the sidewalk. Her right arm has an arrow wound, with blood spilled on the ground. “Oh my god, Bianca!” Alphys dashes first, before everyone else. It looks like she was unconscious for the whole time.

                The scientist lifts her head and body up. “Ohhh, uhhh…!” she brushes her hair, and then checks if they have a pulse. “She’s okay, but her breathing…!” she could feel that Bianca is struggling to breathe air. Toriel goes up front, “She looks like she was poisoned… I will heal her—“. Her right-hand glows in blue, but before it could come in contact with her, a strange whistling sound is heading towards them. “what—“ the caretaker turns her head, only to see an arrow flying towards her forehead. She had a delay with her movements, and couldn’t shield herself from it. The same reaction goes to everyone; Seven’s aim movement was a split-second off. No one could stop the fast projectile, until a familiar goat child comes out of hiding. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIMimINF5pM)]

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT5Wwj8bf8M)] Asriel jumps to the scene with his short swords at hand. Swinging both of them, and breaking the incoming projectile into two. He successfully protected his mother from harm, but the question serves to him. “Asriel! What are you doing here, my child?” a sound of concern by Toriel. Even the others were surprised to see the goat child appearing out of nowhere. The gun man lowers his gun down, as he said “ _We decided to follow everyone in secret._ ” The tone of voice was different. It was Chara talking through Asriel’s body.

                “More importantly….” Seven aims his weapon toward the dark alley, where the arrow flew from. Undyne manifests her spear and grips it with both hand. She points her weapon to the darkness, declaring “Coward! Show yourself!!” Papyrus looks through the darkness, and then he suddenly spoke. “… I SEE A HUMAN.” They turn their attention to the tall skeleton. “SHE LOOKS GORGEOUS!” Papyrus cheery tone indicates that the human is a female, but who is she, what is she doing, or why is she trying to kill the nurse and the caretaker? The thought crossed their minds.

                A figure shrouded in darkness, comes out of hiding. Asriel couldn’t believe his eyes, as he tries to rub them with both hands. “No, that can’t be!” he sounded confused. “My child, do you know who she is?” They couldn’t tell if it was him or Chara who said that, but he seems to know the figure. A human dyed in darkness, with a beautiful royal gown shaded. The jewels beautifully reflect at their confused expressions. She holds a bow crafted with both discord and elegance, and lastly arrows that are longer and sharper than usual. The tip is coated with something black and shiny.

                “ **Frisk’s mom… That’s Frisk’s mom…** ” Both the owner and the guest of the body had spoken. “What? Oh my.” Toriel is now confused. Why is the former queen of the humans here in a strange side of reality? And more importantly, why is she alive with the attempts to kill them, and how did Asriel know that she was Frisk’s mother? The dark figure crosses her fingers on the bow to hold it with the prepared arrow, as she lifts her left hand to touch her upper lips. She just giggled with malice. “You…. What’s so funny?” Undyne sounded hostile.

                “You may had been Frisk’s mother, but I won’t let you hurt my friends!” she gives a threatening tone, and throws the spear towards the figure. The solidified water projectile is heading towards the target. In turn, something broke the attack, forcing the spear to spin around on the air, before breaking into its liquid form. The caretaker took notice of the attack, and suddenly warns everyone. “Oh no. Everyone, be careful!” she sounds distressed. Alphys is about to break out into a panic. “What, wh-what is it? What’s going on?” she looks around and saw three short and round silhouettes circling them. “The mischievous three!”

                From the shape of their forms, they resemble fat, short children. They are just about Alphys’ height. There was sudden glint out of the shaded environment—something that was sharp. Later, that one small shiny thing extends into a line. It starts to come towards them. Seven shoots the line with his silver revolver, cutting it into two. From how it separates, it acted like a clothesline being snapped in the middle of it. One ball with the colors, yellow, light brown, and red suddenly rolled towards them. It was fast, but Undyne made a hard-upper swing with an impromptu made water spear. It broke into liquid form, while the strangely colored ball flies off.

                Someone’s eyes glint in dark red, while throwing a number of cards. About five of them were thrown like shurikens. Papyrus takes his turn with a snap of his fingers: bones littered the air to block them, but instead the cards cut through them. “WHAT?!” he ducks for cover, right when one of the cards had trimmed a centimeter of his scarf. The gun man takes the turn; he used his bronze revolver to make a planned rebound. His eyes glows in light-blue and whispers ‘break…!’ a monotone right before the bullet was let out.

                It struck the third middle card, then it hits the first—forcing it to fly vertically. The bullet hits the second and fourth, while the fifth was set to a different direction by the deflected first card. All of the cards spread to sideways. The former human queen runs to the side, while pulling and firing a sequence of arrows. Toriel unleashes a barrage of fireballs to burn them into ashes. But one arrow was still half-destroyed. Asriel takes the initiative, and blocks the arrow with his weapons. His eyes were glimmering with Determination.

                But even with the Determination, he’s hesitating to take his turn to hurt someone. An arrow shines from the upper back, about to impale him from the leg down. He was able to dodge the attack, as the incoming projectile stays standing diagonally on the street. In a short second, the black coating on the arrow starts to pollute the solid stone with its color. “The arrows are coated with toxins!” Alphys said, and suddenly she looks at the poor victim, Bianca. Her body is slowly becoming dark pale and cold, and her breathing is becoming heaver. “R-R…an…..”

                The wave of attack continues. More string lines come to their way, as the gun man continues to break them with his silver gun. The other projectiles are also being deflected by his bronze gun. In the wave of five cards, a knife follows at the back. “Oh no!” Seven did not calculate with the additional attack, but Undyne is there to save the day. She deflects them with her water spear, but the force in the throw was too great that the spear quickly breaks into the liquid form.

                Toriel couldn’t fend off the attackers, while healing the victim. Time was running out for them, and more wild shuriken-like projectiles are showering them. Papyrus finally regains his Bravery trait, and makes a stand. “YOUR HIGHNESS. I WILL FEND OFF FRISK’S MOTHER’S ATTACKS.” A familiar giggle echoed around them, and an arrow was aiming for Toriel’s forehead. The tall skeleton’s eyes glows in Orange, and snaps both fingers. The arrow turns gray, and stops halfway. Undyne took notice of the chance, and decides to hit it with her newly created water spear.

                The surrounding is becoming more drenched with water, as more spears break. In turn, the caretaker’s time suddenly changed. In her situation, everything and everyone had slowed down. Papyrus somehow learned time magic called [ **Haste** ]. Without wasting time, Toriel casts her healing magic on the victim. The poison was immediately neutralized, and the nurse is slowly regaining consciousness. The magic the tall skeleton casted wore off at the right time. “Do not worry, Alphys. She’s going to be all right now.” She gives a confident smile.

                The scientist was about to break tears of joy, but she couldn’t let anyone else fall victim to the poison. She puts her down behind her, and nervously said. “I..don’t know how this happened, and I…” Alphys’ SOUL starts to glow in **purple**. “don’t care who you are! Mischievous three or whatever…!” passion and a mix of self-confidence is flowing within herself. “You have n-no right…” she pulls her phone out, and pressed a button. An antenna extends from the upper part of her phone. “ **You have no right to hurt OUR best friend**!”

                Undyne also feels the same way. “To cause harm. I will defeat every one of you!!” she swings her spear, and breaks into a splash. The three shadow figures were soaked with water. Just like Alphys and Papyrus, Undyne’s SOUL glows in **blue**. She lifts her hand up with a smug face, and grips something. The water around them suddenly moves into tentacle form, and wraps itself around the hiding silhouettes.  “ **ahhhHHHHH**!” they sound like children, while the liquid whiplashes around them.

                Seven couldn’t do anything, since he’s not oblige to kill anyone. The tentacles thrash around, and Alphys aims her phone at the base part. “Sayonara, jerks!” an epic moment, as she presses a button and a line of electricity pours out. Combined with water, the captured silhouettes became a light show. Meanwhile, both Asriel and Toriel are ready to fend off the former queen. The bow stalker looms around the hidden parts of the streets. Toriel claps her hands together, and balls of fire surrounds the area one by one. The darkness is being reduced by the light made by flaming spheres.

                Until one sphere reveals where the former human queen’s location. Just by the side of Rance’s apartment. The ball of fire chases her down; even with a long gown that reaches the ground she was quickly able to maneuver around. The more she crosses one of the floating spheres, the more of them chases her. Without warning, a blue bone erects from the ground right when she was underneath it. She seems to know the rule about blue bones: don’t move.

                The rule of blue attacks became the former queen’s downfall, since there are about five flaming spheres chasing her. Toriel dissipates the three flames, only allowing two to hit the opponent on the chest. Papyrus brings out his bone staff, and Asriel rushes toward her with his swords, performing a tag team attack. Surprisingly, after the blue attack disappears, the human queen blocks their attack by using her bow as an impromptu melee. The two monsters make an upward and downward swing, but all the human queen had to do was to diagonally block them with her weapon.

                Papyrus lowers the tip of his staff and makes a floor sweep. The goat child does a windmill swing as well. Frisk’s mother jumps to dodge the sweep, while parrying the sword attacks. Asriel’s footing slipped for a moment, giving the opponent a chance to attack. Toriel dashes toward the other, blocking the bow swing with a flame burst of hand. The opposing queen does a quick floor sweep with the use of the bow’s wooden part, and lifts it up to ensure that the caretaker falls down.

                “Ahhh!” Toriel falls down, and almost landing on Asriel. With the quick reaction-time from Chara, she was able to borrow the body and dash away from harm. Just before the caretaker’s back lands on the floor, another arrow was loaded on the former human queen’s bow. She pulls the string, and was ready to take her heart out. “NO!” Papyrus’ orange eyes blaze further, a circular wave of negative color grows from his hand and into everything else around him. The darkened city had turned negative, while all movements have come to a halt. “NYEH?” He asks curiously. His magic points is decreasing rapidly, and it took him a few seconds to realize that he just stopped everyone’s time.

                “GOLLY, I NEVER KNEW THAT… EHH, MY HEAD HURTS.” He was cheerful at first, but then he held his own head in pain. He thought that he should act immediately. He removes the bow and arrow from the former human queen’s hands, and helps up Toriel from continuously falling down. The tall skeleton fixed her body into a standing formation. He goes to the caretaker’s right, before falling on his knees. His eyes stopped glowing, and everything continued to move again.

                Frisk’s mother’s bow and arrow disappeared from her hands, forcing her to become confused. Toriel was also surprised that she is now standing up. The goat boy reacts immediately from the confusion, by letting go of his weapons and opening up his arms into a hug. He latches onto the former human queen’s upper body, while she screams out in pain. From Asriel’s hands to the entire frame of the darkened figure, they all glowed brightly. She struggles to get rid of him, but his grip was solid. She spasm with words that cannot be understand, until her frame glows with warmth. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT5Wwj8bf8M)]

[Asriel’s desire to [ **SAVE** ] the enemy, fills him with **Determination**.]

                Her whole body becomes bright like a green neon light, until her physical form dissipates into shiny dusts. Something was in her core, and it explodes on everyone. A black shockwave extends toward everyone, and the first one to blackout was Asriel himself. The world turns dark, and everything became lost. ‘what happened?’ Frisk’s mother appearing from another side of reality, attacking someone and attempting to take someone’s life. ‘who…?’ the three attackers who had kept everyone occupied. They were Asgore’s father’s personnel. More questions suffocate the thought of the goat child, until something licked his face.

                Three cute barks echoed in his mind, just before it starts to lick his face again. In his wake, it was the Annoying Dog who was trying to get him back from a distant dream. “Wah!” he sits up from something soft, and sees that he was on Toriel’s lap the whole time. “My child, you are awake!” she sounds worried, and hugs him tightly. “Welcome back.” Seven jests at front, along with Undyne and Alphys at both his side. Alphys still carries the unconscious nurse with her hands. “What happened?” he looks around, and sees that they are still on the darkened side of the world.

                Papyrus comes near him, but to Toriel’s side to avoid the dog. He explains, “JUST WHEN THE HUMAN QUEEN EXPLODES, THAT DOG BLOCKS THE EXPLOSION WITH [ **SOMETHING** ]! WHILE DIANNE APPEARS WITH IT, AND USES HER CHAINS TO CATCH YOU.” He points behind him, to see the rogue girl standing with a smile. She raises a hand and waves it sideward. “Hiya!”

                Dianne somewhat cheerful. “… wait.” He remembered something. “What happened to the three others?” Asriel asks while looking around. Undyne frowns with her teeth showing, “They turned to ashes as soon as the queen blew up..” she doesn’t look satisfied. Alphys adjusts her glasses with one hand and answered. “Based from the end-battle, we may have overdone it.” Recalling that she electrocuted them while being flailed by water tentacles. “Really?!” Undyne turns her attention to the scientist.

                Dianne turns her attention to them, with a disagreeing response “No, I don’t think so.” With just a short glance, she answers their question. “They’re just some dolls recreated by this space.” She sounds sure of her answer. “How do you know that?” Seven asks, crossing his arms along the way. “That’s because I faced one just a while ago. But…” she recalls it with a doubtful expression. “It only wanted to see my SOUL trail, Kindness.” Her SOUL glows in green for a few moments before it disappears.

                “I SEE, SO THEY CAN BE DEFEATED WITH SOUL TRAITS.” Papyrus concludes. Toriel puts her son down and walks to Alphys. Bianca is still unconscious, while Dianne approaches them. “What happened to Bianca?” she asks. “OH, THAT’S EASY. FRISK’S MOTHER [ **SHOT A POISON ARROW** ] ON HER ARM.” His answer made the situation awkward and worrisome. “BUT QUEEN TORIEL HAD ALREADY CURED HER FROM THE POISON, SO SHE SHOULD BE OKAY.” The tall skeleton gives his assurance with his response. Dianne couldn’t help but frown, although at the end of the moment she could tell that the nurse will be okay.

                “Which reminds me. Where’ve you been. Anne?” Seven asks. Dianne answers. “So, after encountered a pale-version of an armless lizard monster, a cute white dog appeared out of nowhere and helped me get out of that place. It turns out that [ **there was another side of reality that is different from here** ].” She stops for a moment to look at everyone; no one wants to believe it. “This cute dog, helped you find your way to us…?” the gun man is rather skeptical. “Well, it did cast a **barrier** to save you from a black shockwave.” They recall him barking once, and a barrier shield appeared on everyone, protecting them from the black wave.

                Toriel was still healing Bianca as she listens. “That dog has been around the Underground for quite some time. He might be related to the dog family in Snowdin.” Just when she turns her head, the nurse is starting to wake up. “Ugh. My head….” She starts to rub her head, and then jumps off of Alphys’ arms. “Oh my gosh!” her friend immediately calms her down. “Bianca, it’s okay now! No one’s going to hurt you.” The annoying dog jumps on the nurse and starts licking her face.  “Uh, hey! Hahahah, cut it out!” she tries to turn away, while almost dropping the dog.

                The Annoying Dog cutely curls around Bianca, while Dianne fidgets around; she is itching to ‘cuddle’ him and Asriel. “No, you **will** **not** cuddle my son.”

* * *

 

                It was a long walk in the other side of reality for everyone. The dog leads the way, while everyone follows. No one wanted to believe what he can do, not like how Dianne just followed the dog. Asriel has a nagging thought that keeps piling up, and it involves the Annoying Dog. Chara remembered it being around the Underground but his purpose is unknown. It appears on its own, and disappears. ‘ _Could it be part of Gaster’s… no._ ’ she shook her own thoughts away, but Asriel already got a hint of it. The more they walk, the more light their path gets.

                They come back to the same door they got out, the entrance to Frisk’s home. As they enter, they saw only the maids and a few guards. “Where’s everyone?” Dianne asks everyone. “Oh, hey. Your brother, Rance and Sans are currently having a duel at the **Training Dome**. Everyone else are also there watching—“ one maid said. They felt a painful tingling on their backs, just by hearing both the warrior and the short skeleton having a battle royale. “Oh, no.” The rogue and goat boy had said at the same time.

                “WHAT? WHY ARE THEY HAVING A DUEL… WITHOUT US?!” Papyrus asks everyone. Undyne also agrees with him. “YEAH, I WANTED TO FIGHT HIM SINCE THIS MORNING.” Bianca looks worried, but she wants to hide that fact. “I… let’s go there, before one of them hurt themselves.” She doesn’t know what her boyfriend can really do. Seven looks worried, not because of what will happen to his girlfriend’s brother but how she just reacted. “We need to stop them, now!” Dianne blurs out in an instant.

                The annoying dog barks cheerfully, before dashing outside. Bianca looks worried as well. “Hey, come back!” she said with a quick turn. They followed along at the back of the household. Skipping through beautifully trimmed topiary and statues; even the garden where Asgore, Farlon, and Toriel were having tea before being attacked by something. “Oh, my. The place is spacious—I er…” Alphys can’t help but feel amazed by the scenery, until Undyne carries her. “Yeah, but we need to go!” Papyrus couldn’t also help but feel uneasy.

                They see a wide two story building at the back, with a pristine green-colored dome-shaped roof. It has no glass windows, but the top-part of the dome has ventilation that allows the air to come it. From afar, they see **gray bones** coming out and tearing the roof apart. While **red bones** reach the sky, and explode. The double door for the building is slightly open, as the dog sneaks inside. Everyone else who are running towards it could hear loud rapid stomps, as the sound of beams come out. A crowd of people sound like they’re cheering, or warning someone to stop.

                Papyrus is feeling something that is new to him, but somehow familiar. It’s a sense of danger that makes him hesitate. Undyne is feeling pump to know what is happening, until someone’s chained daggers fly out of the door. The tall skeleton reacts to the sudden attack with a cast of stop magic. Alphys couldn’t believe that instead of blocking it with his usual bone attacks, he used time magic. “Nice reaction time!” the monster royal guard commends him. Seven readies his guns just in case another thing comes out.

                Asriel went up front and slams the open without warning. His eyes widen, and Toriel asked him “My child, you should not go ahead like that!” just when she was about to carry him away, she looked forward and felt like her heart just skipped a beat. Seven went to the front to see what was happening, and also felt the same. Everyone else followed.

Inside the building, there were a lot of broken bones and the solid marble floor had a lot of foot-size holes and cracks. Even the ceilings and some of the four solid-looking pillars are just about to collapse. There were too many damages, and guessing from the outsiders’ point of view, they may have been fighting for quite some time. There’s also a broken helmet pinned to the south-east of the four pillars, while three metal scraps are littered at the side of the arena ring.

                A broken Gaster Blaster is by the side of the north-west pillar, it tries to open its jaw but ends up turning to dust. In the middle of the arena-like space shows Rance, with just his chest plate attachment and lower left leg attachment, is lifting Sans up with his right hand. His index and middle fingers are slotted into his right eye hole, while his thumb was slotted into his left. His body was just dangling. “ **SANS!** ” Everyone outside cries out his name.

The spectators: the two kings, the lion man, the nurse’s brother, the three human royal guards, several soldiers and butlers, the newly arrived rogue, and the human child are just frozen. Some of them are in awe, some of them are in shock, but most of them are speechless. The group who were outside of the building couldn’t believe their eyes as well. Rance points his spear’s tip to the floor. What is odd is that his spear was tightly sheathed with a string, making sure his bladed head wouldn’t break anything.

The warrior’s entirety was covered with dust, from the bones he may have destroyed. Rance is just one move away from executing the short skeleton, but he didn’t. He just puts him down gently, letting him rest down. In his turn to see the door, his eyes were very sharp. He looks like predator eyeing his prey, and his expression resembles that of a serial killer. They couldn’t believe what they saw; Papyrus wouldn’t want to believe it with his own eye holes. He checks his brother’s status, before everything blacks out for him. A flame of orange surges, whilst trembles in fear.

[Sans                     HP: 1%  MP: 10%              Status: **Downed** ]

To be continued…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits to the original owner of the OSTs used in the story chapter: Toby Fox and Motoi Sakuraba. Links are on the story, so be sure to check them out and give em' a like.
> 
> Were you guys expecting the Sans fight? Instead, I give you the fight you will never expect. Annoying Dog appearing out of nowhere and saving them from the other side of reality, and Papyrus being able to practice his time magic. Rance also did a number on Sans without any more details. 
> 
> But don't worry, this IS the first piece of part two. I will get on that on the next chapter. Be sure to comment what you think of the story.


	22. Fear's Grip and Fiend's Grip (part two: piece two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here writing at a slow pace. Well, I've been sick since the publication day and it was difficult to manage in that situation. This is the longest **Fight Scenario** that I've written so far, and aside from that I need to pat myself in the back before I call it a day. Anyway, hope you enjoy what you've all been waiting for.

                It was an overwhelming devastation for everyone, especially Papyrus. The training room, which is supposed to be used for practice battles ended up with heavy damages. The tall skeleton, the caretaker, the monster royal guard, the scientist, the gun man, the nurse, the rogue, and the goat child couldn’t believe their eyes. With the human warrior, Rance Vor, as the victor, And Sans, as supposedly one of the Underground’s sentry. Everything was a standstill for the sibling skeleton: a complete shock. “I….” his eyes flicker in orange, and without warning—everything went black. Within the darkness of the void, an unfamiliar man’s voice echoed with a chuckle. A smile of deceit, for knowing that his creation had unlocked something beyond his own calculations.

* * *

 

                “…HUH?” Papyrus looks around, along with the rest. The building that they just entered became empty; the place is too clean and the lights were brimming from the ceiling. In the middle is a clean wide arena, where the floor looks specially made with the toughest marbles. They would know since it is similar to the marble floors of the Underground’s Judgment hall. The arena itself is two floors high, while a glass-barricaded window covers the 2nd floor balcony view.

                There are four pillars that support the buildings, located exactly at the four corners of the huge circle. The atmosphere they feel gives the adrenaline similar to a ‘Fight to the Death’ Coliseum, but at the same time it gives a refreshing feeling that of a boxing ring. The whole building is empty at the moment and everyone’s confused. “What just happened?” Toriel asks while she looks around. In her memory, the others should be standing outside of the ring. They were distanced from the actual fight.

                “The damages…the dusts!” Undyne exclaims, recalling that it wasn’t this neat. Dianne looks around, and took notice that everything is in order. “We’re not dreaming, which means that [ **someone may have casted a repair magic** ].” A snap of someone’s fingers to get everyone’s attention. “how’d you guys get here?” Sans gives a surprise visit, grinning with one hand pointing at them like a gun while the other is in his pocket.

                “SANS! YOU’RE ALL RIGHT!” the tall skeleton jumps with joy as he tackles his brother with a surprise hug. “hey, paps. what's with the—oof!” he was lifted like a toddler before Papyrus exclaims out loud. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! FIGHTING WITH RANCE!” the door behind them opens in. Strange that it was suddenly closed. There goes a crowd that followed in. A lot of them are some soldiers of each city, wanting to see the whole fight. “Oh, man. I’ve never seen the Northern Royal Guard this serious!” One of the soldiers in the southern soldier, while the eastern and northern ones replied. “I know, right? We know him as an uptight and calm. But this brings in the new perspective.”

                The rest were forced to move to the side while a number of soldiers from each city decides to watch. Seven soldiers from the north and east, five from the south, and six from the west. “How come there are many soldiers wanting to watch this fight?” Seven asks Dianne, while the rest were talking to Sans. The rogue replies back with a nervous tone. “Because this will be the first time every one of them will get to see my brother fight seriously.” It was like no one ever saw him blur away and put up an instant kill.

                Dianne looks stern and nervous, **as if she saw a nightmare like no other**. Sans was glancing at her for a moment, and everyone took notice of it. Asriel also felt the same, and he is the first to approach her. “Uhh, Rance’s sister…?” before she looks back to the goat child, she slaps both of her hands to her cheeks. “No way I’m letting this happen, again.” She didn’t even realized that Sans and Toriel were already in front of her, aside from both Asriel and Seven. “yep, i don’t think it would make any difference.” Sans said with a sigh, before he continued. “i already lost the fight, but someone may have [ **LOAD** ].” At that time, Frisk runs inside before the two kings have followed.

                Sans turns his head to the child and asks, “kid, did you load your **save file**?” he sounds cool. Frisk shakes her head sideways, “No. It wasn’t me. Someone else might have did it.” Frisk sounds worried. The other two who has a very strong mindset of **Determination** are Asriel and Rance. Asriel spoke, “Load? I don’t know how.” He said with little confidence. Papyrus bothers to ask them. “PRINCE AND PRINCESS. CAN YOU TELL ME HOW THIS [ **LOAD** ] THING WORKS?” he asks curiously in tone. The human child wants to show them how by mustering her mindset, as a panel appears before them. To their surprise, there is only a single message in it, with no options available for her to choose.

“ **SAVE FILE LOCKED.** ”

                “What…?” Frisk asks herself that, and for some reason it made Sans both glad and nervous. Asriel and Chara are both surprised about that; maybe their Determination is stronger than hers. They tried the same way Frisk did, but to their surprise, it is the same. They can’t [ **SAVE** ], [ **LOAD** ], or even [ **RESET** ] anymore. It seems that the short skeleton’s wish came true, but if that’s the case then someone’s death will be permanent.

It was an awkward thing, but instead they answered based from what they know, while the rest listened. While they were talking about it, the kings had arrived with the lion man, the professor, and the warrior. Rance had his light-grey armor attachments. He’s also wearing non-spiked gauntlets, greaves and helmet. What strikes him odd is that his spear’s blade sheath is tightly chained unto it. He might be using it to turn his weapon into a non-lethal blunt weapon.

                “Oh, hey everyone.” The warrior spoke in neutral tone. In a bind, chains extend from the back and spins around his arms. With just enough space to ensure that the blades do not lash out toward the others, Dianne was able to bind him. “Rance, you better calm down about this. We don’t want any more incidents happening with your name on it.” Dianne sounded nervous and worried.

                “Dianne! Hold him down while I get the tranq…!” Bianca said as she takes out a small prepared syringe from her waist pocket. “I’m sorry, but this will hurt me, more than it will hurt you.” The nurse says as she reveals the needle, readying herself to inject it. She was about to press it towards the warrior’s unshielded arm, but suddenly the syringe disappeared. The chains also unlatched by itself by someone’s magic. Sans twirls his finger up and around, before having the needle reappear unto his hand. “sorry, ladies. but we have a score to settle.” He jested.

                The chains retract back to the rogue’s pocket contraption, while she exclaims. “Sans, why do you want to do this? You’re going to lose to a simple grudge?” Dianne protests in question. “Rance, do you really want to do this? What’s it about him that makes you angry?” Bianca asks as well. Both the warrior and the short skeleton are silent, as they get a move on. The blue tank comes to them and said, “They mentioned that they want to get rid of some problem by fighting through it, so we’re going have them fight it out.”

                They were all against it, but East continues with his words. “We’re all against it, even the kings. But in the near future, if a problem would arise, we cannot have both sides having complications. Which is why the problem must be dealt with.” Asriel and Frisk wanted to say a word, but she was cut off by hand gesture of ‘Stop’. “Don’t worry, they both swore an oath that they won’t kill each other.” Dianne couldn’t comprehend how much of this is happening, and that alone makes it difficult for the caretaker.

Seven couldn’t comment a thing since he is not familiar with the country’s tradition. Instead, he went to his father’s side and asks a question. As for the scientist and the monster royal guard, they are both concerned for Sans’ welfare. But unlike Alphys’ passive feelings about the solution, Undyne went along with the northern soldiers cheering “Rance, Sans. Kick his butt!!” as confusing as it sounds, she is referring to both of them. It didn’t take long before a familiar person also arrived in the building.

It’s Lugina Mercy, the orange-haired novice who once challenged Rance at the North City Amusement Pier. He immediately noticed her sister’s presence, looking nervous. “Sis! What are you doing here?” he rampantly approached her. “Oh, hi brother. I’m here to watch the fight…..and make sure none of them end up killing each other…” she looks down when she said that. Without warning, Doc Mercy pats her shoulder, appearing with a cheerful expression. “Don’t worry, Di. A Royal Guard’s vow is absolute, and your boyfriend swore not to overdo it.” He must be behind Lugina a moment ago, for them not to notice him.

Asriel and Frisk went to their father’s side, while asking her “Frisk, what happened?” She replied to him, “They were more determined to fight each other than I was to stop them, especially Rance. I don’t know why, but ever since the first time he and Dianne met Toriel and the others….” She hesitated on calling the caretaker’s name, as if she wanted to say the word ‘mom’. The annoying dog barks twice at the two, before sitting down on the floor and wagging his tail. They turn their attention to the dog for a brief moment.

“Settle down, young ones. Both parties have agreed that Rance and Sans will only have a **training duel**. If they are to cross the line, we will all stop them from fighting.” Asgore gives his assurance, but everyone is still nervous about it. King Farlon puts his hand over his daughter’s shoulder. “Let us be seated somewhere none of us are in danger.” The kings do not seem to pay attention to the dog. He starts to wander back to the nurse and her family. “I’m wondering why you fell in love with someone so wild.” Lugina comments.

“I’m also wondering why I have a brother who **thinks** he is wild.” She looks away to her left, feigning like she had a horrible family life. “What was that?!” he asks out loud; the annoying dog suddenly barks at them. Doc Mercy happens to notice the dog before his children. “Oh, what’s a dog doing here?” he asks. Bianca continues to ignore her brother while beckoning the dog. “Come here, boy!” a vein throbs on the novice’s forehead and shouts out loud “DON’T IGNORE ME, BIA!” the nurse turns to him. “Oh my god! You almost sounded like Papyrus whenever he talks!”

Papyrus happens to pass by their seat, “YOU CALLED?” he gives a cheery and goofy response. Lugina stands up from his seat, making it fall. “What the f----? A skeleton?!” Toriel, Undyne, and Alphys also happen to pass by them. The caretaker is not pleased with the novice’s words. “Mind your language, young one.” She scolds him with a finger pointing up. Her tone of voice sounded like a mother figure, that forced him to yield. “I’m sorry, ma’am.” The annoying dog barks at them before jumping into the nurse’s lap.

[[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3ZXfMpAv8A)] Papyrus is worried about his brother, since he knows him for a lazy brother. Then, he thought that someone changed in Sans ever since the barrier had broken. He was always lazy, that he would even sleep through a normal fight as if he doesn’t care. It always happens when he and Undyne wanted to make him work for something. Sans is known to be lazy to the bone, but now he’s changed. He works really hard, and always gets into a fight with the warrior. “I WONDER WHY MY BROTHER…IS BECOMING IRRITATED BY THE ROYAL GUARD.” A thought crossed his mind “HE DOESN’T NEED TO BEAT HIM FOR ME TO BECOME A ROYAL GUARD.”

Undyne also share the same idea about the short skeleton, but despite all that he keeps things for himself. Sometimes, he even keeps a secret that can be as mind-blowing as the revelation of the young Dreemurr’s revival. One of them was that he strayed the other monster Royal Guards away from Frisk. Another one was about the shed behind their house, which she only found out about when she tried to break into their house at the back. “It’s weird to see him this serious…” Alphys know some things about Sans, especially **the log of resets**. She always keep notes of them, but the thing is that she doesn’t really focus on them since she thinks they are purely fiction. “I think…he sees Rance as a-a threat.” She nervously replied.

Toriel only knows Sans as a caring and pun-loving skeleton, but when she and Papyrus witnessed him bring out a Gaster Blaster, her perception changed about him. “I am sure that he has his reasons, does he not?” Lastly, Dianne joins them on their seat. The Mercy family and the monsters together. She looks really serious about this situation, and the fact that she remembered that her chain broke, lashing her blade towards the door. Based on her observations so far about the short skeleton, she is confident that she had a clear grasp of who Sans really. “This won’t end well for him.”

Dianne sounded serious, which made Bianca worry. The two fighters are on each end of the arena ring. Sans is at the east part, while Rance is at the west part. Just when they thought that Sans had his own changes, they started to focus on the warrior. The monsters know him as a powerful warrior, and the fact that his speed and ferocity makes him more of a monster than that of a human, it would be really difficult for the lazy skeleton. Bianca and Dianne also know him to hate people being lazy.

Darvenshel and Van Rose, also known as the West and South knew North as a solo mission-type of person. His relentless actions and incomprehensive adaptive skills are the reason why his actions are commendable. But above all, they both have different perspectives of him. The green tank was the first to take him in after his first tragedy; Rance’s knack for survival from a young age throughout present is unbelievable. And most of them had its own tragedies. The blonde militant on the other hand, thinks of him as a selfish person for taking roles without others’ consent.

Other than the green tank, who shows sympathy toward the warrior, King Farlon shows more worry about him than Darvenshel. The fact that he was the last one to survive a slaughterhouse **under-the-table** mission makes him questionable. He also has doubts with Rance’s overall capability, which can be life-threatening to any people he took on seriously. The human king frowns, and thought about something: Rance never gets irritated and frustrated by anyone. Even if he’s angry at South and Dunkelheit, he never stays aggressive for more than 10 minutes.

Asgore and Toriel are more worried of what the two will be doing, since Toriel saw how the human warrior fought on their first meeting. Asgore can tell that Rance is not a bad person, but based from the imposter’s movements it may still look similarly terrifying. Dunkelheit couldn’t care less of what will happen to him, instead he is betting that Sans will actually beat him. The short skeleton is a genius monster to him, and he expects him to know several ways of beating a human.

Giga and Seven are having some serious doubts about this fight, but because both have no proper position to question the situation, they limit themselves from making a comment. Personally, the gun man can tell that the skeleton has the upper hand. While Giga can tell that if it is a test of speed, it would be the human who will win. The fact that he is related to Dianne gives him an idea that they are both ridiculously fast. “ **I hope my magic can support Sans.** ” He knew how frail the short skeleton is, which is why he applied [ **Vitality magic boost** ] on him. “ **He will survive longer.** ”

Lastly, Asriel and Frisk are worried about the two. Chara has a few bad memories with the short skeleton, but even more so with the human warrior. The same goes for the human child, since she had to deal with an almost lightning fast person when she tried to run away. Asriel may have felt the same sensation when they were both pulled back into Frisk’s room in a blink of an eye. The audience has been set, even Flowey watches from one of the back of the pillar. The fight between the two beings. “ _This is going to be interesting._ ” It knows that both will go to extreme measures to beat the other. It chuckles silently, thinking that one of them will be in the worst spot.

* * *

 

The preparations between Rance and Sans has been complete, and both step into the ring. The soldiers view the whole fight from the second floor, while the rest are on the first floor. In case one side goes out of control, they will be prepared to stop the fight. Dianne already changed her chains and blades into something less black and more durable. King Farlon’s hand is on his rapier’s handle, King Asgore holds his trident over his shoulder, and Giga has his gilded staff ready. Seven had his revolvers loaded and Dianne’s chains are dangling at the bottom. Toriel, Undyne, Papyrus, Lugina, and Bianca will only stay and watch.

Rance gives a suggestion “…How about we make this a fair fight: I get a hold of you once, I win. You beat me to until I am downed, and you win. Sounds fair?” his eyes lost focus of anger for a moment, but he seems to be plotting something. “what are you getting at?” Sans asks him with a grin. As it sounds pleasing for him to beat the warrior into submission, there is a hint that he’s looking down on the short skeleton. “Because you look like you will break the moment my spear head hits you, and I don’t want the princess or anyone else to be crying over a powder of dust.” He really wants to insult him. “Deal?” all he could do is nod, he made a point.

Alphys calls someone with her phone, “H-hello…? Is the camera live….? I d-don’t know If this is allowed…. Okay.” A tiny Mettaton shaped toy comes out of the cellphone and starts to fly like an insect. In the arena ring, gives it a familiar feeling of the Judgment Hall. The light emanates from the ceiling as if the heavens are watching them, but from his point of view it is more like hell. Sans already checked Rance’s status and it makes him nervous. The familiar loop of scene when he fought Chara and won, and even lost. He is more nervous than his usual mutual feeling; if he does win, the humans will see their kind as a threat. If he loses, the monsters will see the other as a threat. A double-edged blade he willingly held. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3ZXfMpAv8A)]

[ **Rance Vor**                           Level: 20               HP: 100%             FP: 100%              Status: **Filled with Determination** ]

                At this level, he could commit mass genocide. Sans doesn’t want to take second chances with it, and he couldn’t let things happen as it is. ‘we’ve already come this far, i better **break a leg** with this.’ He plans on breaking Rance to an early retirement. His eyes flare up in blue. “isn’t this place beautiful, as if the skies are watching up. The room feels like the sun is shining, and I can hear the birds chirping…” there were some birds chirping at the roof tops, but the sound of their chips cannot be heard from the inside. Chara had a familiar sensation when Sans said those words. The declaration of his all-out fight with Rance.

                “at this times, humans like you…. **should be burning in hell.** ” Sans snaps at him, but Rance glares with no interest in the other’s threatening message. “I know you have your own tasteless jokes, but… **You seem to misunderstand the situation. Since when were you in control?** ” he replied with similar words. Asriel’s spine felt like something cold and dead brushed his back, feeling a weird sensation as if he was just stabbed by numerous ice bones. The warrior’s SOUL turns blue, and Sans lashes his hand up. It lifted his opponent up for a moment with an intent of slamming him to the ceiling and dropping him to the ground.

                In surprise, the opponent landed on his feet on the ceiling before flipping his position properly on the floor. The short skeleton’s intention of making him suffer was not realized. Instead, he went tried to summon bones from the ground. To his surprise, he did made bones appear in the ground but they did not erect. In his sense, they turned into dust as soon as they made appearance in the mass. A quick thought made him realize that the marble floor is not something that can be damaged by mere bones.

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMe97a2Mj_4)] He pulls out a Gaster Blaster at the sky, firing at him diagonally down. Rance runs to the side at normal speed, while the laser chases him. He decides to circle towards Sans before landing an impact on him. The short skeleton warps behind him with eyes burning in blue. “ **do you really think i'd let you hit me?** ” a snap of his fingers made bones surround him. The warrior responded with a cyclone swing of his blunted spear. All of the bones turned to dust, and just when he extends his spear to reach the short skeleton, he warps to a safe distance near the North-East pillar.

                Once again, Rance holds back by running at normal speed, with both hands holding at front of his chest diagonally upward. His eyes were blazing in red, but why isn’t he doing his usual speed? Sans felt insulted by his actions. “ **you’re taking me lightly, aren’t you?** ” just before he makes another noticeable warp, Rance threw his spear upward towards the South-West Pillar. Sans didn’t see it, and warped directly where the spear was coming. IN hesitation, he dodged it to the side, almost hitting him at his side. Rance wasn’t done running, and decides to sprint up towards the pillar. When he reached the peak of the tall figure, he gives a strong kick to make a back leap.

                His leap is leading me towards his dropped spear at the South West part of the arena, and the short skeleton once again warps to a safe side. In his precaution, he made sure to make a Gaster blaster appear in mid-air and lands on it as a substitute platform. The warrior hasn’t spoken back after his last statement. He must be thinking of several plans in beating him, but that would be arrogant of him, Sans jested. “welp, i'd bet you’d be **shocked** to know what i have in store.” he punned, as the large skeletal head opens it jaw.

                Instead of a white charge of light, it was **yellow**. A yellow beam bursts out of it and storms the ground with electric waves throughout the arena grounds. “What…?!” Toriel and Undyne asked at the same time. Papyrus’ Jaw drops from this sudden new attack his brother is doing. The beam chases him while the arena floors became a static floor, which gives a tremendous disadvantage for the warrior with metallic armor attachments. Just by being close to the beam is sending strange sounds that disrupts the warrior’s thought of process. Rance continues to dodge, regardless of not knowing where he should go. He grips his spear, and decides to throw it up high.

                The throw was too strong, and it was aimed at the ceiling. But it looks like the warrior knows what he’s doing. The spear hits the upper surface horizontally, and then bounces into a different angle. It was falling towards the short skeleton in coincidence. Sans warps away, while the spear drops dead toward the skeletal head. Sans hadn’t forgot that the floor is charged with electricity, but his shoes were rubber. “you have no weapon anymo—“ he didn’t notice that the warrior was missing. He looks around, and finally sees him on mid-air.

                His jump got him to land on the skeletal head; did Rance knew that Sans couldn’t control the blaster when he panicked? In his response to that, he punched it on its forehead. His body holds high voltage of electricity, which he forces it to return to its sender. The blaster felt it and shattered on the 10th second. He must have **persevered** it long enough to return in. Bianca stands up and exclaims “Oh my god.” She couldn’t believe that he took in a lot of voltage without going insane. Dianne’s eyes toward them have not yet changed.

                Dunkelheit is monitoring everyone’s reactions as well as the opposing fighters’ fighting styles. Another punch lands on the skeletal head, before the first blaster open fires at its own. Rance lands on his feet, with his eyes focused on the skeleton monster. [[song changed here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buifCKc9RNU)] He hadn’t said a word or remark. Instead, he lowered his spear-tip to the ground. Now, Darvenshel stood up and give his warning. “Rance, don’t do that! This is just a practice duel!!” his word erected several questions to people who don’t know what that means. South turns her head towards the green tank and asks “Why? What is wrong with him doing **that**?”

                Dianne clicks her tongue, which she never does with anyone besides her. Seven asks her, “What’s the matter?” Even Giga looks back in question. “My brother is getting serious. [ **Dead serious** ].” Her words give a constant danger sign for the short and tall skeleton. Rance raised his right foot up into a limp, before having it bounce on the floor. He’s preparing something, and Sans feels like he’s going to die in the next turn. He braced himself. The moment both feet went to a leap, the first small step made him blur into a mirage.

In a second, a number of loud stomps started rushing towards him. Rance is practically visible; only a trail of rushing steps make it noticeable where he’s going. With his speed, it would be difficult where Sans would teleport. He felt twenty 9’s with Rance’s terrifying stomp rush. Without hesitation, he warps to the other side. This is the speed Asriel, Dianne, Frisk, Papyrus, and Sans were afraid of. Even the king is starting to shake; he wants to stop the fight. The warrior missed completely, but the direction of his rushing speed changes with an arc, going back towards Sans. In two seconds, he could imagine all the 9’s flooding.

It was **fear** that struck him, being unable to think of a way to counter the fight. Not everyone could tell how Rance is invisible, other than a trail of air torrents coming towards its target. It’s like someone is firing a Gatling gun towards the enemy with the bullet trails being bigger than usual. It was also very loud that it sends anyone into a confusion. “H-how does he know this technique…?” Toriel asks herself. Asgore follows, “This is [ **Shukuchi’s technique** ]! Why does your kind know how to use this attack?!” he turns to King Farlon.

“This…was an old teaching from our predecessors for rogues to master. But ever since then, **only he and Dianne [had mastered it]**.” Bianca asks the rogue. “Shukuchi, you mean the one similar to the anime ‘Rurouni Kenshin’, where the young boy Soujiro used this technique to almost defeat the hero?” it was the anime that they watched last night with Alphys and Undyne. Lugina stands up, surprised to see that the warrior is capable of doing this. “He’s too fast!” Papyrus couldn’t express himself, since it seems to be in mix of shock, amazed, terrified, and confusion. “THIS IS….” A small sweat drop falls from his skull and down to his cheek bone.

Sans is trying to formulate a solution while dodging away from the rush of danger. In the heat of the moment, he finally figured out a way to counter it. The warrior continues to rush towards his opponent, but this time Sans stopped running away. His eye sockets are burning in blue. “come at me, you genocidal freak.” In a split second, Rance was about to swing his blunted spear towards him.  At that single millisecond, he winks with a taunting grin and warps away. The moment the human swings his weapon he hits a **red bone**.

As it snaps into two, it lights up into a familiar yellow. It shined ever so brightly, that it exploded like a loaded dynamite. Smoke covers the arena, and East stands up; knowing that no one could ever survive that. He is starting to regret allowing them to fight. The fact that Rance is terrifyingly fast, with Sans loaded with imbalanced magic makes it a monstrous battle. “It’s ove—“ the smoke clears away from a sudden gust of wind. There reveals the warrior standing in his same lowered spear stance. On the other side is Sans, with eyes glimmering.

Rance’s eyes were glimmering in red, and soon became engulfed in flame. His determination is still increasing. South finally stands up, not being able to believe it with her eyes. “He’s not normal, for him to survive that blast.” Her eyes lead her to be deceived by the situation; Giga saw it clearly how he was able to survive the blast. With the use of the wind gust made by spinning his spear, he was able to reduce the overall damage output to its lowest. The explosion was delayed by a millisecond, and was able to move back three steps away from it. The flare simply pulled him back before the smoke sets in.

Sans doesn’t have much option left to do, and simply did his usual trick: fire different kinds of bones at him. Including the purple, red, white, and blue. The warrior simply deflected the others, but in turn he was hit by the purple ones. His movements started to become sluggish, as the red bones explode near him. Asriel clutches his legs with both hands, as he remembered the experience of gravity forcing him down to the ground. Just by being close to one makes him kneel to the ground. Getting hit by a number of them should force Rance to the floor.

Undyne stands up with a face of awe. “OH MY GOD!! SANS, THAT’S OVERKILL!” if he gives the human a chance to have a turn, then he would be on the receiving end once again. Sans won’t let that happen, and with a finishing move: five Blasters firing from the top. The carnage had made another smokescreen, with the warrior’s helmet being pinned to the upper part of the pillar. “it’s over….” Sans thought, since he let out a barrage of them.  Suddenly, he felt more 9’s coming at him and forced him to warp on the edge of the arena, near the Mercy family. A swipe he avoided from the warrior.

Rance appeared where the short skeleton stand, with eyes as sharp as a knife’s edge. For a moment, Sans remembered one of the Genocide routes, where one genocidal frisk as insanely fast that they were able to avoid all his attacks as if it was nothing. Even their attacks were similar to the current warriors. “could it be…?!” Suddenly, Chara inside Asriel recalled the same scenario. “Oh my god…” she and Asriel said, as he saw the vision his best friend had imagined.

There was no doubt about that, the warrior today resembles the 77th Chara from one of the Genocide Routes. Sans remembered that moment, and was killed before he could even fall asleep. The flower chuckles from the sidelines. “ _You finally remember who you’re dealing with now, smiley trashbag?_ ” Dianne is starting to ready her chains, but Rance shook his head in refusal. Frisk couldn’t stomach how brutal both sides are going through. With eyes blinking and flaring at each other, both are ready to attack again.

Strangely, the marble floor hasn’t been damaged despite how many blasters have been fired, as well as how many red bones have exploded in one area. But now, there’s the unusual tension flowing in the air. It’s striking everyone to hesitate and procrastinate. The battle between the two had been intense, and it’s still growing slowly. Rance makes the first move, but this time a large air torrent forced its way before he disappeared. Sans is thinking carefully, ‘Right or Left?’ Out of nowhere, the ceiling had thump loudly, with its condition damaged by the warrior’s step.

Everyone stood up with their mouth’s gaping open. That was a tremendous force the warrior had just let out. More started to come from the north-east pillar, then the south-east pillar. Another one came at front, just a step on front of the skeleton. Just by that step, Sans felt something painful. The force of his step was like a shockwave, which was similar to him being slapped on his whole front. His assault is incredibly fast and furious, that even without swinging his weapon deals damage to the short skeleton. The marble floor is starting to crack.

Sans can take it somehow, but regardless he’s taking 2 damage with each strike. He had to stop the confusion, but the loudness of his step is forcing him into a handicap; his purple bone’s effects completely backfired on him. “SANS, WATCH OUT!!!” Papyrus warned him out loud. In his warning, Rance was already behind the short skeleton. Everything stopped, and Sans can tell that he’s going to lose at this rate. He is ready to give up, and throw away everything. Then, he remembered someone who has been close to him the longest. It wasn’t Papyrus, Frisk, or Toriel. It wasn’t Alphys, Mettaton, or Undyne either. That one monster that he remembered, whom he second despise the most is Gaster.

Rance gives an intentional weak-swing from the short skeleton’s back. Before it could land, a **gray bone** had erected just at the side. His swing was deflected by it, forcing the warrior to hesitate for a moment. “welp, i think it’s time to use my **special attack**. to be honest, i never thought of using this. but it’s…more like a last resort for me.” The floor was damaged by the single gray bone, and then more had rose from the ground. The warrior steps back without faltering. It looks like the real battle is just beginning.

The warrior’s hearing was reduced from the red bones’ explosion, so he’ll rely on his sense of sight and touch to ensure that he won’t get hurt that much. He couldn’t counter the new bone attacks since his spear is currently blunted, not to mention the color of the monster’s eyes have changed. Rance can see black numbers oozing upward from Sans’ eye sockets. He blurs and torrent towards the opponent once again.

His speed is impressive, but now that Sans has his trump card in play, it will hinder Rance’s assault. More bones appear in mid-air just at the ring’s edge with different colors at his disposal; the warrior can’t make an assault relentlessly if the first move was Sans’. If he strays ever near the audience, then they would be caught on the red bone’s impact. If he tries to stop Sans by catching him, he would just teleport away and continue his barrage. The only option he that he has to endure everything until he thinks of a possible opening.

In his actions, he appears at the middle and taunts his opponent by swiping his spear in diagonal cross, making the remains of the dusted bones fly up before facing his opponent as if he’s ready for hell itself. The short skeleton couldn’t hesitate as well as to what the warrior is thinking, since he knows well that using red bones to chase him off would lead to others getting hurt in the process. East notices something weird between the two: despite their attacks at each other, their actions mean that they are not blinded by rage whatsoever.

One thing caught Dunkelheit’s attention is that both of them can’t attack, defend and move around at the same time. But if they are to switch from one to the other, it is sure for them to deal a lot of damage. In the warrior’s case, with his speedy movement is actually attacking, not dodging. But that doesn’t go the same way for the short skeleton. Things are becoming out of hand, even though it is a practice duel. Both are going all-out like their life and pride depends on it. For what, exactly? It is ridiculous, South and the two Kings had thought.

Sans starts his numerous bone barrage, accepting the taunt with a thought of putting the other in a permanent handicap. The first attacks that was launched were his purple bones, followed by a mix of gray, red, blue, orange, and white. Rance responds to his attacks by deflecting them with his spear; based from his swing, he won’t let one attack hit him directly. The purple attacks fused with the spear, making it heavier to wield. The warrior doesn’t seem to mind, despite that his own body is now three times his weight. His swings hadn’t slowed down, regardless.

Gray bones were new attacks for him, since he can’t break them at all with his blunted weapon. They’re also new for everyone else; even Asgore couldn’t make out of it. All Rance could do is jump from side to side whenever those are heading his way. As for the blue and orange attacks, they were easy to deal with just by moving and not moving. The red bones were countered by deflecting the white bones toward them, instead of breaking them to pieces. More explosions flooded the middle of the arena, and based from the barrage, there is no way Rance could survive it.

Sans is panting, almost ready to collapse. Asriel could tell that what he’s doing is to fulfill his end of the deal: put the warrior out of commission. But the fact that it had to be at a great deal makes him think whether or not he will survive. Bianca is cringing, almost ready to throw herself to the ring in order to stop the fight, but Dianne held her hand tightly and said, “No, not yet…” the nurse looks at the rogue, and she could tell that she’s also holding still. She must know well how far her brother could withstand, which is why she won’t let things end that way.

King Farlon’s hands are trembling, while trying to cough little. The intense pressure and stress given by the two fighters are putting him on edge, as his holds onto his rapier ready to unsheathe to stop the moment. Asgore could tell that both are still going strong. Rance is still going strong, as he is doing well to minimize the damage at a least speedy, yet most efficient way possible. The weight on his continues to burden him. Seven’s expectations of both sides were shattered—it goes beyond his scope. They’re both savages.

Rance pants, while his spear’s sheathe is burning from the red bones. A number of his armor attachments have already fallen dented, due to his efforts of dodging, he couldn’t deflect all of them. Some of his attachments were impaled with gray bones, but there were no noticeable injuries. His sheathe on his spearhead starts to melt through. Like plastic burning and being cleared away, reveals a shining silver blade tempered with black shade. He pants with exhaustiong while his eyes are still as sharp as his spearhead’s edge. He is still determined to fight, but Sans is at his limits. It is strange that sweat drops are coming out of the skeleton’s head, or was it his mana. Papyrus briefly checks his brother’s statistics.

[ **Sans** HP: 30%MP: 20%               Status: Exhausted]

                It is strange that the short skeleton was able to take damage from the gust of wind force and live through it, Flowey thought. “heh, thanks for the boost, gig.” He comments; Giga’s magic to help him survive longer did help him. But all he did is cut down any damage dealt to him to a quarter, while making all his attacks more efficient. Rance looks like he couldn’t care less; he is ready to attack while the short skeleton is exhausted. At that moment, he suddenly held his chest in pain. He looks like he’s having a hard time breathing, as he kneels down to the ground.

                The short skeleton couldn’t tell what’s going on, but he appreciates having a short break. In his attention, he looks at everyone else, who couldn’t believe their eyes that he is able to cast all of it. But what caught his attention is that Frisk is also holding her chest, as if she’s having a heartburn. The same goes for Asriel, who fell on the ground while curling into a ball. “My child, what is happening?!” Toriel immediately acts to see what’s wrong with her child. The two kings also did the same for Frisk, while the lion man uses his magic to see if he could heal her.

But what was strange is that Dianne also clenched her chest, while she struggles to breathe. All four share the same signs, and the three of them have a unique SOUL. Does that mean that the rogue also holds the same Determination as the three? Bianca and Doc went to see if they could help her. The short skeleton has one chance to beat the warrior, but would every one of them allow him to attack someone who is handicapped? He has two choices in front of him:

[ **FIGHT** ]                [ **WAIT** ]

                His decision could lead to a bad end, but because he is in pain, he decides to wait for him to make a move. It took him a while to notice that his own monster SOUL glows in **blue**. The black numbers oozing from his eye sockets disappeared, and his exhaustion was reduced. Is it because he unlocked a human SOUL trait, or is it because he took a short break. The flower monster couldn’t stand letting them go idle. “ _What is the matter with you? You had one job and you’re hesitation. STOP BEING LAZY AND **KILL HIM**._ ” It’s cry of outburst exposed itself, as the short skeleton sent a red bone towards that pillar where it hides.

                The explosion got it to fall down to the arena, as it struggles to get away. Flowey was going to give a bad glare towards the skeleton, but to its surprise the warrior was in front of it. He doesn’t look happy, as he heaves with words. “ **Do you…really think that…you’re above consequences?** ” It felt overwhelmed with numerous 9’s flying around its mind, as the warrior mustered all his strength to annihilate the flower. One massive swing already made petals and plant parts fall in separate places, but he keeps swinging his bladed spear similar to how Chara killed Flowey when it begged for mercy.

                Each part that flew on air were also made sure it doesn’t remain. A wave of red energy bursts out of Rance, hitting everyone with a sensation like no other: the feeling of **Determination** was shared throughout everyone who was struck with fear caused by him. The heartburn in all four had subsided the moment they felt the red energy. He turns around to face Sans. “…I appreciate you waiting for me to recover… but it’s time **we end this**.” once again, he swipes the remains of dust with his bladed spear, and held it as if he is ready to swing a mallet. Frisk and Asriel got up normally, as both asked at the same time, “what was that?” They’re filled with **Determination**.

                “….welp, don’t expect me to give you another wind.” Sans jests, as his eye sockets no longer bursts in blue flames. Dianne gets up, as she said to herself “that sensation…” she said it as if she had experienced it before. Both are ready to fight with one last strike, and this time, Rance took the first attack. He blurs away, with foot stomps approaching the short skeleton at full speed from both the floor and the ceiling. The short skeleton is more than aware that the warrior is going to do the same trick, as he unleashes **a jaw of gray bones** with some parts of it being red. A shark mouth full of them will either force him back or get him permanently injured.

                A sound of metal clashing towards hard steel echoed through the room. Numerous gray bones were cleanly cut into two. Five of them were spinning upward, breaking the ceiling while some red bones were also knocked upwards, flying. Sans couldn’t believe his eye sockets, that the warrior cleaved through them as if they were nothing. The way they were cleave should send them throughout different directions, and endanger everyone else, but for some reason they were only sent within the ring.

                No one was hurt, but the damages caused by both his stomps and the gray bones made debris fall out of control. Some of the marble floors flew towards the rest, as they defended it easily. Asgore and Farlon minced through them as they turned into dust; Darvenshel and Van Rose guarded, while Seven made his shot connect to all five large pieces of rocks. Dianne was still hesitating from the sudden heart burn, which put the Mercy Family in danger. Asriel tries to muster his magic to immediately break them, but he is a few seconds late. Undyne was also busy deflecting some of them, while Alphys was ducking in cover.

                The small mettaton bot was destroyed by one of the rocks. As for Dunkelheit, he evaded them by going side by side. He doesn’t look like he could fight, but he seems to have a talent in dodging attacks. Papyrus is trying to cast his time magic, but it doesn’t seem to work. His mana was drained into 1%, and he can’t muster enough to stop all them. The rocks were about to hit some of them, until the Annoying Dog jumps off and barks twice. His eyes twinkle in color white, and circular barriers appear before everyone. It saved them the trouble of deflecting and evading the attacks, but for the dog to cast such a magic, “Does the dog possess the  **Legendary** **Artifact** in the underground?” Toriel asks in surprise.

                The rain of debris didn’t last long, while the dust around them fogs the view. They hear Rance’s spear falling down, or was it Sans’ gray bones falling from the damaged ceiling? They couldn’t tell. But based from what they saw, before time had glitch on the group, they knew who won already. The fog of dust had dissipate, and Rance carries Sans up with his fingers slotted on the short skeleton’s eye sockets. The warrior puts down his opponent carefully, before coming to notice the damage around him. It was a catastrophe. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buifCKc9RNU)]

                The shields have dissipated, but the look in Rance’s eyes have not. Dianne was the first approach her brother carefully. The look in his eyes reminded her of his last mission with the former Northern Royal Guard: the eyes of the true Genocide. Her fears were starting to arise, but she can’t let him go with that look on his face. Not to mention, it is a complete shock for everyone else to see what he can do in combat. She wants to save him, and Sans. Asriel and Frisk were worried of what will happen, since the warrior’s bewildered eyes have not yet dissipated.

                “Rance’s brother, don’t…!” without thinking, the goat child starts to run towards her. “Anne, what are you doing?!” Seven went bursting out as well, “Asriel, wait!” Frisk follows along with Toriel and Asgore. “My child, do not run towards him!” Toriel pleaded. Dunkelheit looks away, disappointed that the warrior had won, but in his actions he saw that the human king had collapsed. “Your majesty!” Giga shuffles his mane before he could even think. “Seven, don’t!” he couldn’t run, since King Farlon needs medical attention. Everyone else are at dismay, but the one who is worried the most is Papyrus.

                “…SANS..?” he couldn’t move at all. His orange SOUL became plain white.

-To be continued…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was unnecessarily long, but what do you think of it so far? Other than a human doing a number on everyone's favorite skeleton. Are you surprised to read that the Annoying Dog can create barrier magics? Well, Toriel kindly spoiled it by inciting what he had. And yes, giving it a gender is my intention. We have one genderless monster so far, and it's **Flowey**
> 
> Sans can remember all of the route resets that happened in the Underground, but who would believe that Rance is similar to Chara? Would you ask yourself why? And who caused all four characters to have a sudden **Heartburn**? Was it [ **Flowey** ], [ **Gaster** ], or [ **Sans** ]? The warrior's Determination is unique in its own way. What type of Determination does he have that is different from both the current Chara and Frisk's?
> 
> Stay tuned for the next chapter of **Seed of Flowey**. Ro-kun signing off, and heading to bed. (still sick)
> 
> Did you Know: dialogues appear with [ **insert message here** ] are being observed by Dianne Vor? These parts only appear when she is close by, listening to everyone's statements. Sans can use them if he wants, [ **since both of them have similar jobs** ]. Just like in Danganronpa, they also act as weak spots that can be checked, agreed or disagreed on based on what they know. Pretty neat, huh?


	23. Fear's Grip and Fiend's Grip (part three)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Ro-kun with a new chapter update. I am very sorry for the huge delay. Things happened, and I got caught in a middle of a drama. I wouldn't have gotten myself involved with it if it weren't for those people. But as much as I have staggered and stagnated, I give you the last part of this chapter.

                The training grounds for two fighters is almost in ruins. The arena that was known to be the most durable among all other grounds have been severely damaged by Rance’s tremendous stomps and Sans’ gray bones. Sans is laying on the cracked grounds, unconscious. While Rance stands victorious, only with a terrible impression on his face. His eyes are definitely sharp and bewildered; the aura he gives has the intent of a serial killer. Everyone was gripped with fear, except for his sister, Dianne Vor.

                She starts to walk towards the victor, ignoring the possible dangers that could happen to her. The others are worried of what will happen to her, and so they rushed towards her. The warrior doesn’t seem to mind if they would either come to her aid or just try to stop him from doing anything. They may have misunderstood. “…Guys, don’t worry.” His voice sounded calm, but it doesn’t align with his expression. Aside from their concern for the rogue, the adults were more concerned of the human king’s condition.

                The confusion got things mixed, until the king was delivered to the hospital with his daughter, Frisk, and Darvenshel. She doesn’t have any choice; she can’t ignore the fact that her father’s condition is at its worst, while she shares the concern for the two people who just fought. She couldn’t handle the situation alone, no matter how much she wants to help everyone. “Don’t worry, Frisk.” Asriel spoke to her, almost immediately snapping her back to reality. He intends to…

[ ** ~~Go with her~~** ]                [ **♥ Stay** ]                [ ** ~~Go Home~~** ]

                “…You need to be with your dad, right now. I need to stay and –“ Asriel was cut off with Toriel’s scolding. “Absolutely not, young man! It is dangerous for you to stay—“ at that point, she was cut off by Asgore’s pat on her shoulder. He said to her “Tori, we are needed to assist the human king… Asriel is in good hands.” The caretaker turns her head on both sides, as she worries if they will be able to take care of him. It’s not her obligation to take care of Frisk’s father at this point on, but she is needed regardless. Even Giga’s aid may not be enough for the sick man, since the difference of their mending skills is marginal.

                She became irritated and gives her warning. “If anything happens to our child, I…” she couldn’t bear to say it, especially with her son there. “Don’t worry, Ma’am. We’ll take care of your son.” Bianca approaches her as she gives her word. The Annoying Dog jumps on her, as the nurse catches him. He barks twice with a cheerful panting. Her worry for Asriel decreases because of their assurance, but she whispered something to the nurse’s ear, ‘Please do not let Dianne near my son. I believe that she might not…’

                “Geez, you don’t need to whisper! I know.” They didn’t even notice that she was in-between the two, almost giving Toriel a heart-attack. The caretaker may have worried too much that she didn’t notice her approaching, but it was strange enough that even Bianca and the Annoying Dog were surprised. “Uwahh! How did you… Ugh! Please don’t do that **again**.” The caretaker couldn’t help but face palm for a moment. Her sense of judgment may have been clouded by her motherly instincts. She discards them and gives them a fair warning. “Please, take care of my son.” She said with a smile.

                As Toriel turns with everyone else leaving, she looks back and said “I will be back to pick up Asriel later.” The caretaker believes that they will take good care of him. The moment she left the building with Asgore, while they were being delivered to the hospital, she felt that [ **something wasn’t right when Dianne suddenly appeared** ]. “…Must be my imagination…?” she asks herself. The monster king and the lion man turn their attention towards her. “What was that, Tori?” Asgore asks curiously. “I’m sorry. It was nothing.” As for Giga, he somehow knows what she is referring to. “ **Do not worry, Mrs. Dreemurr. Dianne and the others will take good care of your son.** ”

                The three of them look forward, only to see that Frisk is crying on her father’s rest inside the ambulance. They felt that she may also need someone to take care of her while King Farlon is being treated. Darvenshel couldn’t join the father and daughter in the vehicle due to his heavy armor plating and his size. It might as well slow down the vehicle from even reaching their destination as soon as possible. Despite without anyone commanding the soldiers and servants of the household, they are acting under independence to support their king.

                The car is already prepared for the personnel and trusted people to join them. “Excuse me, your vehicle is ready.” A maid had bowed with her right hand placed on her left chest towards the three. The three looked at one another before agreeing to join them. What will happen to the Human Capital if their king were to become deceased?

* * *

 

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLHc8Fma8mg)] Back at the arena, there only remain the Vor siblings, the Mercy siblings, some of the monsters, and the professor. Rance’s eyes had already faded to its calm state, just before his forehead bled. “Y-YOU… IS MY BROTHER…?” Papyrus had mixed feelings to express to his so-called mentor. “Don’t worry, he fell asleep due to exhaustion.” The warrior replies back with assurance. He sounded like everything is okay, despite what he and Sans did to the building they were fighting in. Despite the façade Bianca had to put up with Toriel, she is still in shock that he could do something like that.

                It was Bianca’s first time seeing the warrior in a serious combat. She couldn’t express how worried and angry she was in words. “You two were **just playing around** …” Dianne cuts off the silence with her words. There was no immediately response, and instead it broke down into a chuckle for Rance. That chuckle turns to laughter, as he shakes the short skeleton’s shoulder with words, “I told you she would [ **see through our fight** ]!” before laughing again. It left the rest in a blank response. Was their fight a joke to begin with?

                Sans’ eye holes light up in wake and gives a weak chuckle. “he he. welp, looks like…it.” Undyne stomps the ground, “What the hell was that reaction for?!! Were you two just fooling around?!!!” it didn’t look like a practice duel to anyone to begin with. Alphys agrees with her. “You two c-c-caused a lot of trouble for everyone. I-I was scared that you might have….” Bianca quickly approaches the warrior and slaps his face. “How could you…joke about that?!” Another slap went to his face. “We were worried about both of you!!” All Rance could do is take a beating from her.

                “I remember you not being there when we fought.” His words somehow caused them to think about something. In reality, it was like someone loaded their save to have time repeat like that. Normally, a [ **LOAD** ] would only have a few people remember it like it was de ja vu, but instead it pulled out a group of humans and monsters. As if time went back without anyone even loading. Sans stands up and dusted off his clothes with his grin. “welp, it’s not a [ **LOAD** ] action to begin with.” He looks at Papyrus and said. “hey pap, did you just… [ **turn back time** ]?” a curious question that is still leaving others in confusion.

                Alphys, Lugina, Seven, and Undyne have no idea about this at all. Papyrus couldn’t respond only because he doesn’t know he did it. It looks like a long day for them to explain everything, but Rance doesn’t see time in their favor. “We can talk about that later, but for now I need to go to work.” He passes by Bianca without saying a word, before stopping. “I’m sorry you had to see that. I did promise not to kill anyone. We both needed to settle our scores, and get rid of the bad system between us.” He didn’t even look back at the others, but he means it to everyone. Sans looks at him with a grin. “don’t think you’ve won just yet. **meat puppet**.” Rance boasted without even looking back. “Round one’s on me, Science prop. If we’re not restricted with a practice duel, both of us could’ve let loose. Also, you should explain to them about your [ **borrowed bones** ].”

                He starts to walk in a limp; his left foot became heavy while his right foot was light and fast. Undyne thought wrong when she assumed he was able to bypass the teeth of grey bones, but it seems that his left foot got caught up a little without the others noticing. His clear intentions not to worry anyone is becoming more obvious, as he almost stumbled on the ground. “heh, looks like i did a number on you after all.” Sans said slowly, before almost passing out. Papyrus was close enough to catch him from falling to the ground. “heh, thanks pap—“

                “JUST…STOP. PLEASE…” the tall skeleton doesn’t sound like his usual self with his pitied irritated tone of voice. Bianca also went to aid the warrior, Undyne also went to carry Sans as he falls asleep on her arms, while Alphys and Dianne were talking. Asriel and Seven felt like he was left out of the circle, as well as Lugina who’s been standing with the remaining two Royal Guards. He looks like he’s still in shock of what just happened. East comments to South, “This…isn’t what I had in mind.” He couldn’t believe that even under all that pressure, both were just toying with each other. South couldn’t comment how dangerous the situation had become. Her eyes pinched almost closed in irritation, while she grits her teeth into a growl. “Felicity, you fool…you [ **have created a monster** ].”

                The goat child couldn’t help but notice that statement fly by his floppy ears. He was going to ask Chara about that, but before he could, she replied. “ _I heard that, loud and clear. Whoever is this Felicity person, may be the cause of Rance’s abilities._” She theorizes while rubbing his chin in ponder. But they didn’t notice that it was said out loud, which got the blonde militant’s attention. “And what’s your business with **her**?” she was behind Asriel when she asked that.  Their thoughts were disoriented after her question. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLHc8Fma8mg)]

                Alphys gasp for a moment, as Dianne disappeared from her side and re-appeared in between Asriel and South. “Well, both of you were saying things out loud. Of course they people would become curious if you say something questionable.” She had her hands on her hips as she points that fact out. “D-d-did she just…?!” the scientist asks nervously, assuming that she could teleport just like Sans. Rance joins them with the help of Bianca. “No, that wasn’t magic. She also [ **possesses the same skills as I do, but she is faster** ].” Those words that escaped the warrior’s mouth made their spine tingle. If Rance’s speed was already terrifying, would that mean that she is also like him?

                Dianne couldn’t help but feel express herself with a blank facial expression. Feeling as if a bird just passed by over her head. She tries to change the mood, “Oh, come on guys. I’m don’t stomp my feet like my brother.” The fact that she was able to move somewhere without anyone noticing was already remarkable. Unlike her brother, who had to ruin the tile floors and roofs just to get to his destination at a fast-pace. Despite that the other royal guards know of the siblings, they did not get to know them better with their true capabilities. Even the gun man doesn’t know that she was that fast; his right eye twitched with his mouth gaping open in a weird smile. To him, breaking her heart might also mean breaking his limbs, he imagined.

                “Lugina, could you get me the list of medicine at a nearby medicine shop?” Bianca pleads to her brother. “Who am I to you, your errand boy?” he snaps back in protest. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine on my way to work. I don’t want to rest any more than I already have.” Rance tries to reason with the nurse. “No way. Your leg needs treatment, and you can’t work with an injury!” she excludes his reasoning with hers. “She is right. And it’s time you actually [ **use your paid vacation weeks** ] instead of shouldering the work load all by yourself.” East comes to join the argument. “Wait, you have paid vacations?!” the rogue asks him in surprised.

                “Oh my god! I can’t believe that you never used them! Why didn’t you use them in the first place?!” she exclaims in disbelief with arms dropped down. She sounded disappointed. “Sans, can I have my syringe back?” the nurse looks back to Undyne, carrying the short skeleton as he rolls in comfort. “Hold on.” Even the monster royal guard looked irritated as she checks his pocket. “That won’t work, Bianca. He was able to resist a potent poison, remember? We’re going to need a tranq that’s strong enough to knock out a rhino.” She sounded worried than angry. Asriel noticed, did the rogue’s mood suddenly changed?

                The goat child steps in and said, “Maybe this will help.” He raises his hand up, and a white floating fire orb appears in front of the warrior. “What is….this….?” the white flame pulses, soothing him to sleep. By the time he starts to breathe calmly, East goes to the other side and carries him over the other shoulder. “Thanks, young one.” He gives his gratitude. “You’re welcome.” Asriel gives a sincere smile in response to the blue-armored one. The white flame that just resonated, reminded Papyrus of a similar white flame that hovered before him. Somehow, it’s starting to make sense for him that it was the goat child who puts him to sleep.

                Restless thoughts are slowly turning to anxiety for Papyrus, as he gives a clear realization that his work is nothing compared to the rest. It’s not like him to feel that way, as he was able to overcome most of his practices through **bravery** and **kindness**. But the more he thinks, the less he becomes his usual himself. Rance holding back when they trained, Sans being able to use certain special bones without his knowledge, a goat child being easily putting him down with sleeping magic; it’s starting to make his orange monster soul become pale. Can he really be the great Papyrus he believes to be? The fact that others had to adjust themselves into a handicap in a serious training is a mockery to anyone.

                “Papyrus, are you alright?” Undyne approaches the tall skeleton. He gives a cheerful and oblivious response, “DO NOT BECOME WORRIED FOR ME. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN BE AS GREAT AS RANCE THE WARRIOR, AND MY LAZY SKELETON…” it was obvious for Dianne to notice that he was just hiding his true feelings to show that he’s strong, but for Undyne, the thought didn’t even cross her mind. “I’m glad that you’re not affected by this. Thinking back, it makes me think that what I’ve worked for is nothing compared to these two!” she said bluntly and cheerfully.

                “Hey Papyrus. Let’s both work harder than before!! Starting tomorrow, we will do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 10KM jog, and 1 ton of weight lifting! No magics!!” Undyne sharing her set of goals to the tall skeleton made Alphys and Bianca chuckle, since she just referenced an anime training method. Papyrus realized something, instead of being fazed by their duel fight, it motivated her to work harder. It was inspiring that his pale orange SOUL is slowly returning to its original color. “So, cheer up will ya! We can do it!!” she even added.

                The tall skeleton gives a real cheerful smile, and nodded. Seven joins Lugina with the labor and comments, ‘Women, right?’ the other sneers away and whispered ‘I know, right?’ they went out of the building, with the gun man waving his hand up to say that he’ll be out for a while. Dianne response with a shout, “You guys better be back at Rance’s apartment, okay?” Asriel had a small hint that they are going to their house after this, while Chara also anticipates that there would be a long talk about the two’s fight.

                The two royal guards looked at one another, and without saying a word both extended their clenched hand to one another, before signing it into a Rock-Paper-Scissors. After the third shake, South had her hand into a scissor, while East’s hand was still clenched into a rock. “Dammit, **Tridon**! You were the one who suggested they duel!” she retorts in reason to negate her loss. “Hey, at least you get to know them better now, **Van**.” Tridon counters her argument. “I will not babysit a bunch of teenagers and monsters!” her roar got everyone’s attention.

* * *

                In the afternoon, Van sits on the couch at Rance’s apartment with Undyne, Papyrus, and Alphys. Dunkelheit, Lugina and Seven are seated on the table, as the gun man was showing his bronze gun. Surprisingly, he’s taking it all too well, despite how he hates being in the warrior’s home. The atmosphere lacked knowledge, as it’s brimming with inspiration; he hates it. But with his students there, as well as the gun man’s guns being present, he is able to withstand it. Asriel on the other hand, sits by the bookshelf full of drawn comics.

                He looks at one sketchbook that says “The Orphan’s Grave”, and reads it. The drawings were well done, it could be mistaken as a foreign comic book. Alphys stood up from her seat, and joins the goat child. “Oh, h-hello.” She still feels awkward to see that Asriel is alive and well. On their previous encounter, he was running away from them, but now he looks like he has no reason to run. The goat child turns his attention to the royal scientist and said, “Hi, Alphys!” for her, it was a heavy feeling. “I want to ask…” She clears her throat for a moment.

                “I wanted to ask you as well…!” Asriel puts down the book on his side, before looking back at her. “Wh--….….” Alphys’ ears suddenly went deaf, just when her heart pounds out loud. “ ** _Why did you lock my SOUL in a container? TELL ME WHY?!_** ” Chara’s voice unexpectedly screeches aloud, with the goat child’s white fur raising in black, as his eyes were piercing red. She stumbled back in fear, dropping her glasses as she screams “Eeek!” Everyone’s attention reverts to them in an instant. “Hey, Alphys. What’s wrong?” Undyne rushed quickly, helping her up. The monster royal guard turns her attention towards the goat child. “What did you do?”

                “I was asking her who drew the comics. They look awesome!” his sound of concern shifts to a jolt of awe, as he opens it and shows it to them. A comic page showing an amazing feature of characters fighting. It almost looked like Seven Gears fighting a large tyrannical plant monster with a different set of guns. Undyne helps Alphys up as she gives her glasses back. She heard it differently, as if he was trying to scare her. There wasn’t clear evidence, but now Asriel’s fur remained white. She shakes her head sideways, and stops with a word “I think I’m tired.”

                Undyne had to help Alphys out, leaving Asriel in question. “Did I do something wrong?” Chara disagrees. “ _I think she saw someone differently…like…_ ” she flashes a memory of her weird smile. “Guwahh! You did that to her?! You’re so mean, sometimes!” she lightly chuckles with a hand holding the middle of her lower lip. “ _I could, but I don’t know how._ ” Her voice switching with his is giving South a bad impression. She stands up from the couch, allowing the two monsters to take it for themselves. She approached the goat child with a glare

                “What were you doing to her?” Van’s eyes somewhat filled Asriel with fear, but in response to that, Chara switched without warning as the fearful expression turned into **bravery**. “ _You have a problem with my best friend, you have to deal with me._ ” She responds with a vicious smug. Lugina looks behind Seven, and saw the two about to fight. He turns his attention back to Seven, trying not to respond. He doesn’t seem to have guts to tell the gun man about it, until the other decides to look back.

                Seven was shocked with his mouth cracking open to see that Asriel and Van are in the mood to provoke one another, before he knows it, he looks back to Lugina. ‘Okay, think Seven. Those are two likely very powerful people and I have no power to stop them….but they’re inside Rance’s apartment, which is also owned by Dianne. I mean, she couldn’t have let us stay here while Rance and Sans are being treated by his girlfriend…’ he was sweating nervously. ‘Okay, maybe I’m thinking a bit too much, but I need to do something…’ he looks around as his eyes glow in light-blue.

                Seven is tracing the possible trail of bullets that could get their attention, without harming anyone. From the ceiling above them, to the south-west corner of the room ricocheting back and forth from the vase, and then as soon as it breaks it will bounce toward the television. Another bullet will be fired to stop the first bullet from piercing the screen and redirects back to the shelf and tracing in between Asriel and Van. The first bullet would likely to retract to the stairs, ricochet on the floorboards and ceiling, and lastly hitting the door where the rogue is stationed.

                It was traced perfectly, as the gun man was ready to fire. He pulls out his bronze revolver and loads two rounds on it. “I better hope this works…” he said while he aims it upward. Dunkelheit immediately held Seven’s hand and blocked the trigger from firing. “What the—let go!” the gun man struggles, but the professor held it long enough to get South’s attention. The novice melts down on the table with his hands covering his head. ‘We’re dead….’ All three guys have thought at the same time.

* * *

                Inside Rance’s room. Two beds were set up separately, having both Rance and Sans laid on them as Bianca, Dianne, and Papyrus were treating them. Originally, the room only has one bed, but with the rogue’s knowledge of their home, underneath the bed is another mattress. The tall skeleton had recovered some of his mana, that allowed him to carry the first one to the side. Thanks to the medicine the two guys brought to Bianca, they were both distributed to the two patients, while Dianne had make sure that her brother doesn’t go berserk as he sleeps. The Annoying Dog sleeps by the bookshelf, tired from the events unfolded.

                She made sure to shackle the warrior unto the mattress with her chains; knowing that he could break them the medicine that was applied to the two has muscle-relieving effects which should reduce his strength and awareness to a half. The nurse made sure of the precautions, and had applied the same balm on the skeleton. “WILL, WILL THEY BE ALL RIGHT?” Papyrus asks them nervously. “It seems that both of them had an overwhelming fatigue, as well as body sores all over. Judging from Rance’s power of his stomps, it would feel like you’re **being slapped by air** … Don’t worry, Papyrus, your brother is going to be all right.” The tall skeleton was relieved, as the nurse continued “Sans did a number on him, too.” She finished applying an ice pouch on the short skeleton’s head.

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCAksZJ7ZZQ)] “Meanwhile, Sans wasn’t holding back, either. My brother took heavy dosage of electricity, not to mention those purple bones temporarily gave him a tremendous weight. The red bones could’ve given him some burn marks, but his quick thinking of reducing the explosive output made them into minor burns. What bothers me are his **gray bones**.” Dianne states, slightly closing her eyes with the look of pity and confusion. She saw how fast Rance charged towards the teeth of gray bones, and how one of them banged his left foot near the ankle. He didn’t pay attention to the pain and considered a relentless assault. Without warning, the short skeleton’s flaring eyes dissipated, giving the warrior the chance to grab him.

                “To be honest, For me, Rance didn’t win that duel.” The rogue added, as Bianca and Papyrus looks at her. “What do you mean?” the nurse asks in doubt. “I mean, [ **it was a tie** ]. Sans did a lot of damage on him as well. The only reason why he passed out was because of the pressure he was exerting to match my brother’s awareness. And because of my brother’s last ambush, Sans burst out too much power and made him passed out.” Papyrus couldn’t believe it. He recalled the last event when he was jogging with Undyne, as she suddenly sprained her ankle when she tried to go faster than usual.

                “If you don’t prepare your body by stretching, you will hurt yourself.” Bianca looks down and pondered, with that thought in mind. She somehow predicted what Papyrus was thinking. “DOES THAT MEAN…MY BROTHER…?” Dianne looks at him and quietly nods. “They were fooling around, but that doesn’t excuse them for straining themselves. From what I can tell, they were competing. But why?” They also remember what Alphys had stated as they were heading back to the apartment. "

                _“Sans had prepared some of his bones mixed with experimental chemical waste extracted from Grillby during his rest, which allowed him to use **Explosive** **Red bones**. While he liquidized electric alloys for his **Yellow Gaster Blaster**. It took him a lot of tries to fuse them unto the Gaster Blaster and it resulted in s-several failures, but he was able to get just one successful. As for the **Purple** and **Gray** … I-I’m sorry, but I’m not sure. Those were n-new to me._”

                Things were going to be left unsaid, until they recall something. “Papyrus, how did you [ **control time** ]?” the tall skeleton raised both hands up to his shoulders and shook his head. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DO NOT KNOW HOW I DID THAT. IT JUST…” he remembered black numbers flowing out of his eyes, and suddenly things went backwards. Reality warped without recognition, as the damaged field fixed itself. “I think you need to master your power of controlling time. Who knows what will happen if everything loads back to the past.” The rogue stated with uncertainty.

                “I JUST…DON’T KNOW HOW I DID THAT…” there was silence at the moment, until someone’s stomach started growling for anyone to hear. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCAksZJ7ZZQ)] “OH, DO I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HEAR THE CRIES OF HUMAN BODY PART, BEGGING FOR MY DELICIOUS COOKING?” a sudden curious tone which got him to play jolly. The girls looked at one another, “Well, we did skip lunch trying to find you.” Dianne states with a light chuckle. “Hey! ….. I must’ve been hungry and completely stressed to burst out like that.” The tall skeleton gives his assurance with a point of his finger up to the ceiling and prides his cooking.

                The three walks to the exit door, while the nurse tells them that the two needs to rest. Before they could even open the door, several gun shots and a number of ricochet sounds echoed on the other side. The rogue rushes out of the room exclaiming “Oh my god! They’re going to ruin the house If they fight inside!” the two follows her without considering the sudden change of mood Dianne had reflected. They got back to the first floor, with bullets ricocheting around the house.

                Three simultaneous bullets were heading towards Bianca’s left knee, right head, and left chest; they were easily deflected by Dianne with the sudden appearance of her throwing daggers. The ricochet backfires back around the room, and more daggers appear out of nowhere. It was almost similar to Sans making bones appear with the snap, but instead it’s Dianne throwing them at different unnoticeable angles. Bianca couldn’t believe her eyes, while Papyrus remembers it all too well; that night when she single-handedly restrained Giga with her retractable chain blades into a hanging crucifixion, and deflected Seven’s bullets back to him.

                 All of the sudden, the front door opens and all the multi-deflected bullets were sent out of the house. In an instant, Dianne blurs back on Seven’s side, pinching his cheek and giving him a stern scolding. Van was in front of the gun man, and she couldn’t believe that she just appeared. Asriel was ducking down near the shelf, until the chaos stopped and the area was clear of wild bullets. Undyne and Alphys were under the table near the couch, while Dunkelheit and Lugina were underneath the dining table. “What is going on here? I know my brother thrashed the training building, but that doesn’t give you guys the right to do the same here!”

                “Ow, ow, ow! I’m sorry, there was a heated conversation between the royal guard and Asriel, I had to do something!” Seven tries to reason, as the two guys had sit up on the dining table. Van steps back a moment and asks the rogue, “You’re… You’ve completely mastered the technique!” She also couldn’t believe it. Dianne turns her attention as she lets go of the gun man’s cheek. “And so I did.” It was a stern tone of voice; it was another change of personality. “Your sister [ **taught us well** ], but the rest didn’t do well.” She gives her compliment, which made Asriel curious. He also recalled Asgore mentioning the name [ **Shukuchi** ].

                “Hmph. You did well, then. I didn’t even hear your footsteps.” Van cracks a smile, giving her a compliment, while a sudden jolt of fear went into her spine. ‘ **…Two monsters?** Are you serious, Felicity?’ Papyrus realizes something as well. From the first time she blurred away at the Underground when she exited Asgore’s castle, and when she fought against the enraged lion man and gun man. Dianne didn’t make any sound at all, no wind or even a decibel of sound. Unlike Rance, who made loud and terrible stomps. He realizes that he’s far from becoming the Great Papyrus he dreams about.

                He couldn’t let that get him down, no matter how many strong opponents he might come to face, now more than ever, he looks like he’s fired up. “HUMAN DIANNE. I, THE—“ his sentence was cut short when Asriel’s stomach growls. “Oh, Papyrus. Could you help me cook up dinner?” Dianne asks him kindly, disregarding the tension around them. “OF COURSE, I WILL MAKE THE BEST SPAGHETTI THERE IS!” his loud voice seems to have woken up Alphys’ nap. “Ugh, wha?” she adjusts her glasses, and saw that she’s on the floor.

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtYwq4aBr0E)] Undyne stands up and responds, “You guys are making dinner? Count me in!” she seems to be pumped in making dinner with them. Knowing the monster royal guard, she might set the house on fire. The scientist quickly cuts through Undyne’s cheerful thought. “On second thought, you should read the comic books Rance had drawn with Asriel. I-I’ll help them cook!” Alphys raced to the kitchen, trying to make sure the other doesn’t secure a spot in cooking. She also knows how ‘creative’ the tall skeleton can be with his cooking, so she just needs to be a step ahead of him.

                Van sits with the professor, the novice, and the gun man. She turns her head to Seven with eyes signaling ‘Kill!’. She warns them “You three stooges do that again, and I will. Make. It. Hurt.” She means it with a burning passion; it gave him and Lugina the shiver, while Dunkelheit looks back with a glare. “Only if you did not provoke the young prince.” He sounds confident. Sparks fly from their eyes, which is strange that he was just ducking under the table. He must not be afraid of her commanding tone to have the **Bravery** to stand up to a Royal Guard—then again, he wasn’t afraid of insulting North, as well.

                Meanwhile, both the goat child and the monster royal guard are being awe by the drawings on the small bookshelf. He shouts to the rogue, “Dianne, where did you get these drawings?!” he sounds curious, as his tail bushes a little. She looks back with a kind smile, “Those are [ **Rance’s old drawings**.]” he looks surprised, as well as Undyne. “You mean, he… drew all of this?!” Dianne stirs the pot full of sauce, while Papyrus and Alphys were struggling to fight over the tomatoes. Bianca cuts in while she shakes the noodles dry. “I still can’t believe he drew all of that.” she said to the rogue.

                “Back before [ **the incident** ], he loves to draw. Back then, he prefers drawing than fighting. But after that incident, his will to hold a single pencil disappeared.” Dianne tells them, while Asriel got to the middle part of the sketch book. The story was cut with the hero confronting a shadow. The rest were blank. The thought crossed his mind, did something horrible happen to him? What was that incident? Undyne was shocked to see that it ended with a cliffhanger. “What is going to happen next?! Why didn’t he finish it?!” she grumbles for a moment, until later she exhales with disappointment.

                “Well, whatever made him change…it must’ve been pretty deep.” The monster royal guard looks back at the stairs. Van could only click her tongue, “If only that hadn’t happened.” Putting her clenched hand on the side of her cheek. Dunkelheit also fell silent for a moment, spinning his thumbs around each other. It didn’t take long before the dinner was ready. Papyrus’ homemade spaghetti was prepared with the help of the three girls. As soon as everyone got on the table to try his spaghetti, they all paused halfway. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtYwq4aBr0E)]

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Du2HDFaFE)] The pasta on their mouths wouldn’t go in, and just from Dianne’s expression, it screams the word ‘OH MY GOD, YUCK!’ Papyrus looks at everyone and asks them “SO, HOW IS THE GREATEST COOK’S MASTERPIECE?” Bianca couldn’t even give a proper comment since it would probably hurt his feelings, while Asriel gives a bitter expression, as if he's ready to throw up. Even Chara prefers being dead than to eat something so horrible. Seven mumbles as he points up to the light, and everyone looks at it slowly. The terrible taste mislead them to do something stupid. In a flash, he put all his serving onto Lugina’s as he tried to swallow a mouth full. Van and Dunkelheit weren’t fooled by the gun man’s actions as they mumbled to the skeleton and pointed out that he wants a second serving.

                Alphys had to choke a little, trying to eat what she has in her mouth so that the tall skeleton wouldn’t be disappointment. ‘I thought the spices would’ve helped. I guess I was wrong’ she thought to herself. As for Undyne, she enjoyed it. “Your cooking is getting better!” she gives a thumbs up, but underneath her eyepatch, she screams ‘who the **** put spices on his spaghetti?!’ Van puts down the fork as she forces herself to swallow what she has on her mouth. As soon as she was done, Dianne read her mind, and passed her the orange juice pitcher and a glass, but to their surprise, she decides to drink from the pitcher instead. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Du2HDFaFE)]

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvVFICHAHxU)] “Ugh, I thought you were the ones cooking!” South points at the girls. Dianne cuts in, “Well, yeah. But…we followed his methods.” The smile of both kindness and regret for letting the tall skeleton instruct how to prepare the ingredients. Alphys could only chuckle away with guilt, since she’s the only one who deviated from the recipe given. They heard someone coming down from the stairs; those who can fight couldn’t due to the intense bitterness of Papyrus’ spaghetti. “WELL, WELL. I MUST SAY, I DID A GREAT JOB THIS TIME. SEEING YOU ALL WEAKENED BY MY COOKING…” he clasps both of his mitten gloves together as he expresses with contented feelings, “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU ALL FELL IN LOVE WITH MY SPAGHETTI, THAT YOU WERE ALL INFATUATED BY IT.” [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvVFICHAHxU)]

                Everyone looked at him with intense irritation. “Who had a good idea putting us to sleep in the same room?” Rance steps down the stairs, still wobbling from the medicine applied on him. “welp, at least you’re not… **dead tired**.” Sans follows, also at the same state. It took both of them a full two minutes of stumbling and wobbling around the room, before they could even get to the dining table. “Something smells….strange?” The warrior comments, with his eyes out of focused. Based from the nurse’s observation, his leg seems to be in good shape. Meanwhile, Sans looks drowsy, with his eye holes flickering like an almost dead light bulb.

                “grillby… i need a bottle of ketchup…” he might be half-awake, unaware that he’s inside Rance’s apartment. Papyrus hands the warrior a plate full of his spaghetti. “Thanks…” he takes a fork and starts to eat it without knowing who cooked it. [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMjgHPOJ1ys)] Everyone was intensely looking at the warrior, as he finishes the plate full of it. “That was….good….any more?” Rance said with a yawn. Papyrus never felt so happy, that someone appreciates his cooking without care.

                “OH…MY GOD… HIS PASSIONATE TIRESOME EXPRESSION AS HE EATS MY MASTERPIECE… I NEVER COULD BELIEVE IT WITH MY OWN EYES. THAT SUCH LOVE FOR MY COOKING IN THAT EXPRESSION EXISTS!!” Sans points upward with his head shaking diagonally. “pap…you don’t even have eyes…” he slams his head on a plate full of spaghetti, falling asleep. Papyrus exclaims, “OH MY GOD, SANS! WHY MUST YOU RUIN THE MOMENT?” everyone looked at one another, and shook their head once. They were all giving their large pile to the warrior without question, and the warrior just ate through it.

                “SUCH FRIENDSHIP, IT’S AN OVERWHELMING FRIENDSHIP…” Under Papyrus' armor glows a dark orange light; a pellet attached to his spine blinks slightly like a beacon. Rance slams his fork on the table, and stands up with his eyes brimming with Determination. “I feel better, now.” Dianne whispers to everyone, ‘I just ordered take outs.’ The wait for a good dinner was wasted, but at least Papyrus and Rance were happy. Now, the rest will have to sneak out to get food that's actually edible. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMjgHPOJ1ys)]

* * *

 

                Meanwhile, at night. Frisk was at the rooftop, dialing someone on her phone. It didn’t take long before someone picks up. “Hello, Alphys? …. I wanted to ask if you have Muffet’s number…. I need her help, tomorrow morning. I also need the Royal Guards’ help as well… I already talked to Mr. Bastille and Tridon. Now I need Rance and Van’s help as well. Could you tell them that they are needed to come to my home tomorrow? ……. It’s my father…”

                In a patient’s room, a lot of medical instruments are attached to King Farlon; a tube on his mouth, and several pulse cords were attached to his chest and arms as he lays on his bed. He struggles to cry out a word, until he was able to muster enough strength to call out, “…Fr…isk….”

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, I couldn't update the story with an unstable mindset, which is why I had to write when my judgment to put the pieces of the story together when I'm sure what to put in. Last week was rough, and my previous draft of the story was too depressing. (That's going to the Neutral Route draft) 
> 
> That aside, I'm doing my best not to put too much unwanted details, but I considered what I put right now, significantly important. Feel free to comment what you think of the story so far. 
> 
> And by the way, I do not own the OST attached to the story. Credits for the OSTs still go to their respective owners.
> 
> Stay tuned and until next time.


	24. Trial by Water: A Dose of Despair and Antidote of Reality. (part one)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ro-kun here behind schedule once again. It's been a rough March-April for me, but all it did was slow me down. I am still Determined to finish the story, the next one might come faster than expected.

                Next morning, Sunday. The week begins early, with four human royal guards at the presence of the soon-to-be Queen of the Human Capital. A meeting was arranged, including others that were called to their presence. Frisk couldn’t let things happen helplessly, as she had failed to do anything to prevent the conflict between the Northern Royal Guard and the Monster’s known Sentry. It was inexcusable for what they did, which had given the human king a heart attack.

                A duel which appeared to be a bloody war between Rance and Sans; almost everyone was convinced that the two really hated one another, until the rogue clarified that it was just a misleading competition between two fools, fighting over who will take care of the princess. Even the professor of the Western University, Dunkelheit Wesson, did not see a spark of rivalry between one another. Their remarks make it seem as if they fully hate each other.

                Frisk stands in front of her father’s throne, wearing a blue gown, fitting for her position as four Royal Guards kneel before her. The Dreemurr parents, Asgore and Toriel stands between the aligned four, waiting for the child to make her speech. Asriel is currently absent; sleeping at a given room on the upper floors due to the late accompany of his mother. Bianca and Dianne are at the side, looking at the princess with concern, as both Vor siblings know her to prefer ‘wearing a rug’ than ‘wearing a useless dress’. While the nurse may seem that she is too young to point out decisive orders toward her loyal aide.

                Papyrus and Sans stand by the two girls’ side, still in awe that Frisk is actually wearing a dress. The rest were excluded from the throne room meeting, as she would know that Alphys would take pictures, and post them on the Undernet. Dunkelheit and Undyne’s presence were not necessary, while Giga and Seven were asked to wait outside, as it shouldn’t concern them. Frisk looks both side with Determination, before speaking to them out loud.

                “First of all, I’d like to thank everyone for being present at this dire moment. My father, King Farlon, could not come today due to his health condition. Which may be very well a secret to everyone else. As his condition becomes worse and worse, the Capital will need to have a new ruler, to take over his position. We cannot have that in this situation, not with Flowey having his way.” She paused for a moment, with a few breathe ins and outs.

                “Based from Toriel’s diagnostics of my father’s condition, he will only be able to live for another week.—“ the four who were kneeling looked up in shock with a loud gasp; the same goes for the four. Questions rose up and filled the room, as the four looked at the caretaker with great concern. Even Frisk couldn’t swallow the given truth by the caretaker, but she has to be brave. A single loud clap echoed throughout the room, forcing everyone to shift their attention to the child making her speech. “But that is, if he is not treated immediately. There is one given cure to his condition, but I will need everyone’s help with this.”

                South stands in question. “Frisk, I may want to ask Toriel of the details.” She gives her honest, yet stern words. Van’s words share great concern, to know the full truth about King Farlon’s current status. Frisk nods her head towards the caretaker, while Asgore looks down. “King Farlon is not sick. He was [ **cursed** ].” Dianne took full notice of what she said, before she continued. “Darvenshel had told me, that before he became the ruler of this capital, he had slain a **Spider Monster**.”

                West cuts her off with his testimony, “One that had called himself **Thyrax** , an unusual one who we thought it deals no poison.” South turns her head towards him, and then Asgore continues the conversation. “Thyrax, was one of our former Royal Guards, who worked under my father, the [ **former King of the Underground** ]. His bloodline’s specialty, is a slow-acting curse that will make any victim’s health worse based from their age and the duration of the curse. It cannot be dispelled by our magic alone.” Lastly, Frisk continues from there “But, there is a cure, right?”

                Toriel nods with a smile. “Yes, child. There is a cure for your father’s condition, but [ **it will require the great-granddaughter spider monster’s golden venom** ] to be able to dispel the curse.” Toriel emphasize. Dianne cuts through their conversation, “Is that the reason why you asked Alphys to call for one of your friends?” Alphys may have told the rogue about their conversation, but even if she didn’t, she would’ve figured it out. Since Frisk befriended all of the monsters. It wouldn’t be a surprise if there wasn’t a spider monster alive in the Underground.

                Bianca also joins the conversation, “Other than the spider monster living in the Underground, there’s also this [ **famous spider monster cook** ] at the eastern country.” Everyone looked at the nurse in surprise. She shook her head to survey the room, and verified that everyone was shocked about her knowing something like that. “I read it on an article reported by my classmate, who once went abroad to study foreign foods.” Even so, a spider monster cook? Even the rogue didn’t know about that. “Is the cook…male?” Asgore hesitated to ask.

                She shook her head in response, “No. The cook is female. Her name is **Kinchi** , one of the world’s most talented cook in the world. Her monster trait did not matter, since her work had won over many critiques’ and customers’ trust.” Bianca crossed her arms and looked down for a moment, “Getting her as a temporary cook would be expensive…” Frisk gives a thumb up with a smile, “Don’t worry. That won’t be a problem.” It is logical for her to be naturally wealthy as well, but it didn’t stop there. Darvenshel looks up to her and said, “Do not worry about the expenses, we are grateful for your father’s kindness and services, and we are waiting to pay it in full.”

                Tridon nods twice, but it seems to bother Rance and Van. To show their devotion and loyalty to their king is envious for both the Dreemurrs. Papyrus suggests something, “HEY, FRISK. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE AN IDEA.” Sans chuckle a little, giving the warrior a bad feeling about his brother’s suggestion. “I HAVE HEARD THAT PORTRAIT DRAWINGS ARE EXPENSIVE HERE. WHY NOT HAVE RANCE DRAW KINCHI?” Both Bianca and Dianne look at the tall skeleton with a poker face, and later shift their attention towards the shorter skeleton with a more intense glare. All North could do is clench his fist, hoping that he will get his hands on the short skeleton.

                Frisk notices the heat between the two, but before she could give her concerns, he spoke. “I’ll do it.” He stands up from his kneel and looks at Frisk. “I’ll be gladly to, if it is your wish.” It made her confused for a while. He is in a financial pinch, after paying for the damages they have done at the training arena. Bianca feels like he can pull it off, and said “I’ve also read that she prefers hand-drawn illustrations than photography.” Dianne continues for the nurse, “With that, it would be a great contribution for her visit.” Sans couldn’t comment; some sweat drops from his side.

                Papyrus suspects that his brother is up to something, “HEY BROTHER, YOUR SUGGESTION TO SUGGEST TO THEM SEEMS TO BE CONSPICUOUS. HAVE YOU REALLY MADE PEACE WITH RANCE?” his last question threw everyone off guard. It was obvious that he was trying to humiliate the Rance, for he stopped illustrating comics for a long time. Dianne gives a bone-chilling smile as she clarified. “Actually, my brother did stop illustrating comics. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t know how to illustrate portrait projects anymore.”

                It wasn’t an insult, but the short skeleton suddenly received a critical blow. The warrior shakes his head at Dianne. “Sis, I don’t think that remark was necessary.” it seems that he is defending the short skeleton, but he cracks a smug at Sans, “Because actions speak louder than words, right? I am **Determined** to illustrate my finest work, and prove him wrong.” it fueled anger. Frisk frowns for a moment, “That aside, my father had told me that [ **Miss Van Rose Valentines can forge the best blades there is** ]. May I ask who she is?”

                Van blushes, for the princess to even mention her full name in front of everyone. That embarrassed feeling became anger, “Your highness, please do not announce my full name in front of everyone?” the child didn’t even know that South’s name was Van. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was your name.” Toriel gives her compliment with a heart-warming smile, “I do not want to offend you, but I think that name suits you very well. Does it not?” Asgore chuckles a little as he said, “Indeed it is.” She puts her anger aside and cuts through the room’s discussion about her name.

                “I assume you want me to make her a kitchen knife set.” She turns around for a moment, hiding her red face. “I will work on it immediately.” She walks out of the room. Tridon knows that she would not hesitate to talk back with a sharp tongue, but because Toriel complimented her name, it made her act dishonesty towards herself. Frisk couldn’t stop one of her loyal Royal Guards, but she knows that she needs time for herself. Lastly, she turns her head towards Rance, who has been exchanging glares with the skeleton.

* * *

                Meanwhile, at the household garden. Seven, Giga, Alphys, and Undyne were having a nice cup of tea on the round table. Alphys looks around, amazed. “W-wow. I didn’t even notice how beautiful Frisk’s garden is.” The topiary, the hedges, the fountains; they are all maintained. They couldn’t avoid the fact that there are some unusual bullet holes around some parts. “We were so focused about the duel fight that we didn’t get to see how AWESOME this place is!” Undyne gives a wild comment, as she breathes in and out. The fountain’s water rose gives a fair mix of water vapor into the air, giving everyone a refreshed feeling without even feeling too wet. They can’t fully understand why Frisk would run away from all this, other than her father giving her a strict time.

                “ **It is nice to feel relaxed in a peaceful atmosphere, right son?** ” Giga gives his comment, while Seven circles his cup of tea around, thinking. Without warning, Dianne appears in between the lion man and the gun man with an envelope. “Hey, everyone!” the peaceful moment was ruined with a group being startled, having their cup of tea spilled unconditionally. “OH MY GOD, DIANNE!!! WHERE’D YOU COME FROM?” Undyne gives a forceful question. The rogue smiles as she points to the side. “The window.”

                “How’s the meeting?” Alphys asks with her tea cup at hand. “The meeting was okay, and it was Frisk’s first ever meeting!” she takes her phone out, showing a picture of the child in her dress. “Oh my god.” Alphys couldn’t believe it with her eyes, while Undyne laughs it off. “OH MY GOD!!! SHE LOOKS LIKE A DOLL!” Dianne puts away her phone and gives a condescending smile, “I hope you don’t mind if I—“ Giga clears his throat. “ **Undyne, that was rude of you to say.** ” He sounds concern. His way of saying it also stopped the rogue from whatever she was about to do.

                “Seven, here are your papers.” Dianne hands the gun man some documents. As soon as he opens to see what’s inside of it, his eyes widen. The lion man also checked to see what’s in them. “W-what? How?!” the rogue gives him a congratulatory smile and says “Congratulations. You’re now one of my brother’s right hand assistant.” She points up and continues, “You cleared the trial, and performed admirably. Even South was impressed!” Seven was happy, but he feels like he’s going to regret it. Undyne raises her tea cup and gives him a toast of celebration. “Never knew you were applying to be Rance’s assistant. Coz after this: You. Me. One on One, tomorrow!” she gives a menacing grin, while gesturing her hand slitting her throat.

                “Anyway, Alphys and Undyne will be asked to go back to the Monster Capital tomorrow, with Sans bridging you back there.” The rogue announces. Undyne stands up and protests, “What?! Why is it that we can’t stay here any longer?!” Alphys stands from her chair and asks her to calm down. Dianne clarifies, “The Dreemurrs will also be going back the day after tomorrow.” Giga puts down his cup as well, “ **Why ask the skeleton to transport them, when they could just have a ride home?** ”

                “Because starting tomorrow, all of the guards will be on high alert. After what happened yesterday, we cannot allow our Capitals to have a critical situation without anyone taking care of them… Also…” she hesitates for a moment. “Giga…will be assigned as Frisk’s caretaker.” The lion man’s eyes widen, “ **Why me…?** ” her smile fades away. “Among everyone that I have observed, you are the most suitable for the task. My brother and I can no longer take care of the princess as her babysitters and whatnot. Not to mention, the others: Toriel, Krauser, Führi, and Bianca currently have their hands full.” The fact that she observed other candidates was commendable for Alphys, it was still a questionable decision.

                “ **But I have a responsibility to take care of my son!** ” Giga tries to reason with her as he puts his hand on his chest, while the other towards her as if he’s asking for something. Dianne looks at him in the eyes and holds his hand with both of hers, “Don’t worry, Giga. My brother, and the other soldiers, will take good care of him.” Seven stands up from his seat, and gives his assurance toward his step father, “Don’t worry, dad! I’ll manage.” The ruin was moment when they hear a loud tire screeching, as they hear Rance’s voice, “OH MY GOD….!” They all turn towards the noise, with the gun man asking, “Was that your brother?”

                Dianne lets go of Giga’s hand and gives a cheerful look at him. “Yep. [ **He’s currently receiving his punishment** ].” Everyone looks at her curiously, while sweat flows down from Alphys’ side. “W-w-what punishment?”

* * *

                2 minutes before the tire screeching, Bianca was currently buckled on one of the king’s car with Rance. The warrior nervously sighed, “I never expected this to be my punishment.” Bianca looks over her steering wheel, making sure that everything’s okay. Just at the front are Frisk, the other two remaining Royal Guards: Darvenshel and Tridon; Sans and Papyrus, and Dunkelheit. “I’m sorry, Rance. But with your reckless behavior yesterday, I can’t think of anything else to punish you properly.” The child gave her regards.

                Rance looks out the window, begging as if he’s about to die. “Frisk, I beg of you. Can it be a different punishment? Anything other than this!” Bianca buckles the warrior down, “You heard the princess! You’ll be my driving teacher for the whole day.” Sans laughs out loud, “who knew the warrior is scared of being in a car.” The green tank pats the short skeleton’s shoulder and adds, “That is just a prelude, my skeletal friend.” Frisk turns her head towards the two skeletons, “Sans, Papyrus, why not join them and see for yourselves?”

                Sans had a feeling that he’s going to join them and sighed. But just before he had a chance to snap his fingers and be gone, his colors went gray. Papyrus was able to cast his magic on his brother, and carried him to the passenger seat. Of course, the tall skeleton joins them, but to make sure he doesn’t go away, he glued his brother’s pants to the seat. The moment Sans’ color comes back, he notices that he’s inside the car. “Welcome to Hell, Bonerfart.” Rance rudely jests. Bianca feels a little nervous. “I’ve never [ **practice driving with passengers before** ].” The short skeleton took a moment to absorb the situation they are in.

                Frisk takes a stick with a white handkerchief tied on the end, swinging it vertically as if she’s signaling the start of the race. The northern gate opens up with guards looking at them nervously. Tridon looks away and said, “You will be remembered…” Rance angrily snaps back at him “Don’t kill me off like that, East! And your words contradict with your actions!” he tries to unbuckle his seatbelt, but it was too late. “Ready, Get Set, Go!” Frisk announces with a single swing of her improvised flag. Bianca goes full speed with a drift of burning rubbers.

                They didn’t expect her to go at full speed, as Rance fearfully screams “OH MY GOD…!” Sans tries to snap away from the nightmare, but the glue really got him stuck on his seat. “why am i glued?!” Papyrus smirks with confidence, “TO PREVENT YOU FROM ESCAPING YOUR PUNISHMENT, AS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE HERE TO COMFORT YOUR—OH MY GOD!!!” his prideful remark immediately turned into terror the moment they went through the dark tunnel.

                It was awkward for the child of a king to give the warrior a bad time of his life, while he’s tasked to illustrate. Normally, with a nightmare ride, they wouldn’t be able to illustrate properly. Frisk thought of that at first, but Dianne gave her assurance with a thumbs up. It feels as if she’s taking the shots. Dunkelheit also felt the same way, ever since they were at the Monster Capital. A moment before Darvenshel departs to his own destination. “I will be off, now. Be at your best behavior, Tridon.” He bids farewell with the professor following him.

* * *

                [[song starts here](https://soundcloud.com/animeost5lw/traffic-man)] The North City, where it is known for its order, had taken a toll of disruption as Rance screams his lungs out. “Watch out!!!” Tires screech with people screaming in panic. Bianca driving with one of the king’s car makes it looks as if it was a joy ride. Everyone, whose inside and out of the car are panicking, except for the driver herself. The nurse is known to be a fast learner and a good will person, but once she starts driving, she becomes just as relentless as the warrior in battle.

                Sharp turns and nearly running over pedestrians would give her a red ticket, but because Rance is the forced-assigned teacher of the day, all he could do is bear with his girlfriend’s monstrous need for speed. “Drive slowly, Bianca! We’re not evaluating you as a speed racer.” He could barely keep a calm tone of voice; it made his warning an understatement. “heh.. you can’t… you can’t even warn her right.” Sans could only endure as much, that his words sounded meek. “SANS! WE NEED TO ENJOY THE RIDE AND—WATCH OUT FOR THAT HUMAN WITH A CART!!!” Papyrus couldn’t predict the nurse’s intentions whether she would ram her speeding vehicle towards people or not.

                A sharp left turn let her avoid an accident, but as they drive away, Papyrus looks back to see the vendor fainted on the sidewalk. Bianca is really good in making sharp turns while speeding; if it were to be a racing drive, she could’ve won 1st place, but it’s not. If Rance isn’t there to be her mentor, then she would’ve gotten a ticket for reckless driving. Frisk has no knowledge of the nurse’s driving capabilities, so how come she gave him a punishment the warrior would’ve hated the most? The warrior had that thought stapled on his mind as he panics.

                Bianca noticed that the road towards the traffic light doesn’t have any cars, and took advantage of it by speeding up. Sans was starting to feel blue due to the intense speed, while both Papyrus and Rance made ear-piercing shrieks “STOP THE CAR!!!” Suddenly, other cars were coming out of the other streets, making the panic ride even more terrifying. The nurse immediately steps on her breaks, while changing her gearshift to a lower number. The witnesses couldn’t make of what was happening, until the moment they see the driver. Their expression towards her were blanked, as if they should’ve expected who would drive like that.

                They reach the traffic light under red, with the car slowed down. It finally stopped, and the three passengers were knocked out. A soldier of the Northern Royal Guard passed by, knocking at the windshield to give warning towards Bianca, but the first person he saw was Rance passed out of tension. “Ma’am I believe you’re disrupting the order in—What the hell? Sir, are you all right?” The warrior responds like a drunken man, as he pointed his left finger upwards. “Aunt Fingerella made a five color rainbow…which is made of punishing colors~”

                Bianca gives a gleeful smile as she waves toward the soldier, “Don’t worry. It’s just motion sickness. He’ll be okay.” Papyrus knocks the warrior to lean towards the right door, leaving his brother. “OH MY GOD. THAT WAS THE MOST INTENSE DRIVING LESSON PUNISHMENT I EVER HAD!” despite the traumatizing sharp turns she made, he had fun. Sans is starting to become conscious again, and looks out. “hey, bro. uhh, could you get me out of here?” he awkwardly asks before smiling. “SORRY, SANS. BUT YOU’RE STAYING THERE.” Rance shakes his head for a moment, and looks at the traffic light timer. It’s counting down to 10 seconds.

                “Bianca, with your driving skills now, I don’t think you will pass by just… speeding.” He tries to unbuckle his seatbelt, “So, uh. Next time, you should try to drive at a minimum of…. 40 kilometers per hour… huh?” his belt won’t eject, and he couldn’t lift himself up. “Why am I stuck?!” he starts to panic. The nurse pulls out the glue that Papyrus used on Sans. The warrior looks terrified, while Sans begs to his brother, “paps, you gotta let me outta here. i, uh, will do anything…!” he looks around before saying the last part.

                Both Bianca and Papyrus said in unison.

“Sorry, but you two caused a LOT of trouble yesterday. This is your punishment from Frisk herself. And she says ‘ **All-Day’** long.”

                Rance and Sans looked completely pathetic under Bianca’s whims. It would be easy for Sans to just teleport away, but the glue on his pants went through it, gluing his thigh bones along the way. Rance could violently tear the seat apart if he has to, but he cannot betray the princess’ trust in him. The soldier lifts up his helmet, and scratches his head in thought. ‘Oh, it’s a punishment from the princess? Too bad I didn’t see what happened yesterday.’ The moment the traffic light turned green, the moment Bianca switches her gearshift and slams her foot on the gas. The other drivers went to the side, just so the nurse won’t hit them. “NOOOOOooo!!!” both the warrior and the short skeleton screams, just before they went through the West City Gates. [[song ends here](https://soundcloud.com/animeost5lw/traffic-man)]

                All Papyrus can do is wave at them “HAVE FUN~! WOWIE, I BETTER EXPLORE FOR A BIT.”

* * *

 

                After some time in the afternoon, Asriel wakes up from his bed. He feels terrible for oversleeping, and wipes off the drool on his face. “Ughhh…. Chara, are you there?” his eyes are starting to adjust to the colors of the afternoon sunlight. ‘ _You’ve been asleep for some time, you Dork. Mom and Dad picked us up last night._ ’ The goat child rubs his right eye, “Then why didn’t you do anything to wake both of us up?” Chara could only tilt her head down, without responding to him. He was going to ask again, until he smells something good from outside.

                He looks at his closet, and sees that his armor and swords are neatly placed, while a medium-size luggage was placed just beside the door. His swords now have sheaths made of leather, making it less dangerous. Something doesn’t feel right for him. It’s quiet outside; he picks up his weapons and went out of his room. With the suspicion alarming him, he forgot his phone on the side of the bed with one text message. They went down the stairs, and into the front of the throne room. The butlers and maids aren’t there at all, but everything is spotless. He feels like something happened while he was asleep.

                He went through all the rooms, only to see few of many servants taking a tea break. They were gossiping about the fight yesterday, and how Rance and Sans are being punished by Frisk at the moment. Asriel couldn’t imagine her being too cruel, but Chara projects the worst-case scenario unto the goat child’s head. “That’s not funny, Chara.” She chuckles within and comments, “ _I know. This Frisk wouldn’t be able to do something so cruel._ ” They left the room, and went to the hall on the first floor.

                The hall looks suspicious; the Eastern Royal Guard is blocking the way towards the kitchen, guarding it with his arms cross. The more Asriel looks at him, the more he notices that East is slightly smaller than West. He always considers the two to be just the same size with different colors. It was hard to distinguish the difference since both of them have similar heavy plating of armor. He has the option of:

[ **Asking Tridon** ]               [♥  **Sneak into the Kitchen** ]               [ **Walk away** ]

                Asriel wants to know what happened while he was asleep, and he feels like he’s going to engage a fight with Tridon if he bothers to ask. A strange sensation pulsates through his body, feeling like something is happening in the kitchen. Chara once again, projects horrible mutilation inside the room. The goat child is getting suspicious with his best friend’s imagination; he can only scold her internally. “ _I have an idea._ ” Without his consent, she takes over his body and whispers something on his hand. A black floating orb of fire floats in front of the Royal Guard, and drifts toward the armory door, before fading into nothing.

                Tridon looks at it curiously, and proceeds to the Armory room. Asriel can’t believe that it was that easy to distract some high-ranking personnel, but which human wouldn’t be curious enough to follow that kind of distraction? It had black flames to begin with. It’s either they’d run away from what appears to be a bad omen, or follow it out of curiosity. East took the bait went with the latter. The moment he goes into the room it went to, is the moment Asriel sneaks through the kitchen.

                Inside the kitchen was somewhat different. They see a lot cooking instruments that are foreign, a number of pots boiling, and a familiar monster cooking, wearing a traditional kimono and chopsticks to hold its hair. It had six arms, all working simultaneously, while ensuring control of both elegant and forceful precision. Asriel looks again, and notices that he may have met this monster. The moment the monster turns; he recognizes it right away. It was Muffet, wearing a foreign-themed clothing.

                Although Chara notices that something is different with the spider monster: Muffet never cooks food without spider in it. This one only adds golden sauce to her food, while wrapping some rice with fish and dark-color thin paper. She just finished boiling the noodles, and makes a pot of it with chopped meat and vegetables. Another thing that they see is that she only has four eyes open, while Muffet has six. “Sora, be a good boy and bring smokey bacon.” She says in an odd Asian tone. A black haired teenage guy wearing a white tank, with a rope tied to his forehead, brings her a hooked meat and leaves to the door. It smells like smoked meat.

                He lays it on the large chopping board, while the spider monster takes up a pair of skewers, knives, and seasoning. Her movements are fluid, elegant, and violent. The stain of the fats and juices didn’t even reach her beautiful kimono. She chops and dices it within minutes, it’s impressive. Chara can’t help but commend the monster’s handiwork. Asriel decides to take a look at it, as he veils himself with his fire magic. In seconds, the puff of smoke dissipates with him. They wonder who is this monster, and why does she look like Muffet.

                The spider monster continues to dice some onions with her middle pair of arms, while her upper pair of arms season her dish. Moreover, she makes a large salad bowl out of it. The goat child comes closer to a large pot to see what she is cooking. The pot is large enough to fit a child of his or Frisk’s size. Just when he climbs up the counter, he immediately stops. The cook looks around conspicuously. She went to the large pot, and opens the lid. There is something that resembles Frisk’s head. A few shake of some herbs did some trick, but what she did after grossed Asriel out.

                She excretes golden fluids from her mouth; after what she did, she closes the lid. The goat child starts to feel nauseous, instead of feeling hungry anymore. He steps back for a moment, not noticing the hanging frying pans above his head. It hits his head, and it made a sound. The cook looks back, only to see the frying pan swing freely. She makes a terrible hiss, before throwing a needle skewer towards the direction. Asriel needs to dodge, but his favor and momentum broke his veil, revealing himself to the spider monster.

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mymjF4AZJrg)] “My, my. A rat in the kitchen?” she teases herself, before revealing several needles on her upper pair of hands, a dual cleaver at mid, and a pair of folding fans on her bottom pair. “How disappointing. It’s time to **get rid of rat**.” Her gaze penetrates through Asriel’s eyes, ensuring fear towards him. In response to her glare, he tries to put her to sleep with a white orb of flame. He extends his right arm to cast, but nothing happened. She chuckles with her lower pair of arms covering her mouth. “A child thinking of magic. Muhuhu.”

                Asriel didn’t notice a mark on his forehead until later; it was an eye crossed out. He tries to talk, but it only let out air. He can’t speak or cast magic, which led him to use his twin swords. The spider monster dashes toward him, making a full spin, extending her fan like a saw blade, while swinging her cleavers at him. He backs off, since he can’t block all four simultaneous attacks. A skewer flies toward him, and with Chara’s guidance, she points out where her best friend needs to block. The cook jumps back with her kimono flopping.

                She readies her stance once more, and comments. “An unskilled child, pretend to be a blademan?” Her words don’t seem to connect well; English is not her language. The goat child grits his teeth, thinking ‘if I can only talk to her.’ The last part led himself to drop his guard down. Another skewer was thrown, and he forces himself to cross-block in impromptu. The moment the skewer was deflected, it was already too late. She cyclones herself, hitting her fan on Asriel’s side while a cleaver cut tears his shirt.

                Those fans felt like they were solid steel; it sent him flying towards the wall, while the gash on his shirt opens. The impact made him fall down on all four, with his weapons at hand. “not challenge.” She comments. She picks up her skewer and throws it towards him. This time, he rolls to the side and readies himself. His SOUL glows in orange for bravery, with negligence melting away from him.

                The mark disappears from his forehead, as his Bravery returns his right to speak once more. “If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you will get.” From orange color to red, his mindset peaks with a high pitch **Determination**. The spider monster gives a smirk, with eyes closing halfway. “Interesting.” Asriel takes the initiative as he readies his white sword. The spider monster moves fluidly, dodging the goat child’s attack as if she was dancing to an unfamiliar tune.

                Asriel’s attacks are unrefined to the eyes of the monster cook; with a slap of her fan’s bottom tip, she immediately disarms his black sword to his right. The second fan was aiming for the other, and by sheer luck, the blade of his weapon cuts it in two. Before the blade can even touch her hand, she lets of it and jumps back. It felt like his weapon easily cut a paper; she didn’t see any force. The spider monster gives a hiss, before throwing her other skewer needle.

                A somersault to the side to reclaim his other half. Asriel points Hope’s peak towards the pot, and asks her. “What are you cooking there?” he is becoming irritated, for his hunger is starting to mislead his logical thinking. “Are you cooking my friend?!” what the goat child saw gave him an imagination of Frisk being cooked in that pot. The spider monster teases him, “and what if it is?” his arms tremble with an unnecessary rage. She is toying with him by clashing her cleavers, ready to chop meat.

                “Hungry rat…” she bows for a moment, with needle skewers coming out of her sleeves for both top and bottom pair of arms. “ **Dead rat** …” she throws them, intentionally missing. Asriel charges in, but to his surprise, his leg went numb. The needles that she threw bounced in different directions, while three of them didn’t hit him, one went to his lower left back, just by the kidney side. He didn’t feel any pain, but for some reason, he can’t move his left leg.

                The spider monster readies another set of needles, with the same preparations. “Crippled rat…” this time, she jumps upward. Quick thinking, the goat child took the needle off his back, and readies himself to block. “ **Dead rat**...” she threw them in different directions once again, but this time, they are all heading to Asriel. Suddenly, several fiery orbs appear around him, blocking the needles. A second later, they cast a bright light and her needles were boxed in cold ice. They fell down like hard bricks, before breaking like cold glass on the floor.

                She falls on her feet, before a sudden sneak attack by her opponent. Asriel swings his black sword, with a weird crack of smile. The cook immediately twirls in dodge, before hammering her other fan to the goat child’s back. Without hesitation, he spins to block the attack, with him facing the ceiling, and spinning sideways. Those are Chara’s movements. The spider monster grins in pleasure. “My, my. Another brat, in one rat.” The two charge at each other; the spider cook with her dual cleavers against the goat child’s dual swords. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mymjF4AZJrg)]

                Without warning, someone threw a stick with a handkerchief on the middle. It wasn’t a perfect throw with it clamping to the floor, but it got their attention. It was Frisk, still wearing her dress. “Stop fighting.” She warns them, with Tridon behind her. Both turn to her, with Asriel rubbing his eyes. “Frisk, you’re alive!” he sounds glad as he rushes towards her. The child responds with a smile. “Young one, you know this rat?” the cook asks. “Yes, he’s my friend, and the prince of the monsters.” She answers as if she’s on friendly terms with her. “Frisk, you know her?”

                Frisk tilts her head in question, “What? Didn’t you read my text?” Asriel looks down in regret. He just remembered that he doesn’t have his phone with him. “Well… She’s a famous cook from Thorepanese. She happens to visit our country when we were going to ask her to cook a dinner for us.” The spider cook responds “My name is Kinchi. I am from Thorepan.” It didn’t take long before teenage guy comes back with onion leeks. “Kinchi, who are they?” he asks.

                Kinchi suddenly remembered about her dishes, and immediately went to tend them. The guy went to aid her in her cooking, as both suddenly focused on their task. They ignored everything else, and it made things awkward for the rest. Without warning, Bianca and Muffet comes to the kitchen. “Hello, dearies.” Tridon looks to his side, and flinches when he sees another spider monster. “Hi, Muffet!” Frisk greets her. Before Asriel could give his greeting, he loses his grip on his black sword and immediately puts his empty hand on his stomach.

                “You look hungry.” Muffet covers her mouth with one of her hands and chuckles. She hands him Two Spider Donuts. The goat child’s hunger didn’t let him talk. He immediately munches through one, before going for the other. Tridon is feels bothered to see a gentle monster lose focus when completely hungry. He goes to the fridge and takes a cart of milk, and bends down to one of the counter’s drawers to take a clean glass. He seems to be familiar with the room’s stock, Frisk thought while she talks to the spider monster.

                “Here.” East said, handing Asriel a glass of milk. He smiles toward the goat child underneath his helmet. Asriel couldn’t thank them enough as he desperately drinks through it. “Now, deary. Who will I be working for today?” Muffet didn’t seem to notice the other cook, until Frisk points to her who she will be working with. The moment they both turn to one another, it felt like a shock. “Muffet, this is Kinchi.” She points to the kimono spider, while returning to the other “Kinchi, this is Muffet.”

                Kinchi drops her cleaver, but her assistant immediately catches it before it gains a chance of chopping her leg. It didn’t take long before both of them started a conversation, giving the rest of the workload towards Sora. Asriel asks Frisk something, “By the way, how did she get here, and where are Mom and Dad?” she answers him. “Your mom and dad are currently at the hospital, helping my father’s condition become more bearable.” The goat child looks down. He didn’t even know what was happening, and blames himself for oversleeping. “As for Muffet….”

* * *

 

                Later outside, Bianca returns the key to the car to the guards. “Thanks for letting me use the car! It was fun picking up a [ **guest of honor** ].” While inside the car, are Rance and Sans, passed out and spirited away. They look less alive the more they look at them in such a pathetic state. The moment they open the door, the warrior falls off the car, with the seat’s leather torn out and the buckle destroyed out of desperate attempts. Sans didn’t move at all, but he’s no longer moving. “Don’t worry about them. They had a long day.” All the guards could do is not talk about it; Rance had it coming.

* * *

 

                Inside Rance’s apartment, Alphys and Undyne are watching something in Bianca’s laptop. They were somehow move in tears, while the Monster Royal Guard drinks tea and brushes the white dog to sleep. Meanwhile, Papyrus is at the Pier alone. The amusement park was closed down due to the recent attack, and despite the damages weren’t very severe, they’ve decided to halt operations for the workers to fix the damage. He recalls what happened when they fought Seven and Giga. In his mind of recollection, he tries to slow down the time of his imagination.

                The seed inside him pulsates, as everything turns gray for him. Even at a slowed down time, Dianne moves fast. She jumps from one lamp post and up to another. The rogue even dodged the incoming bullets, while maneuvering around. Just when the lion man decides to lunge toward him, she threw her chain blades to one arm, and then the next. With her accelerated speed, the moment he was caught, she immediately tied her opponent into a mid-air crucifixion.

                The rogue even went so far as to throw her daggers at a planned direction, redirecting all ricocheting bullets back to the gun man. Papyrus felt afraid and envious; 'how can a human be fast like that?' The negligence of his thoughts is slowly taking over. Without noticing the change, he is stuck in a loop, while a vine extends to his ribs.

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's the chapter? There are some plotted holes in the story, but it won't end just like that. 
> 
> *Who is Kinchi to Muffet?  
> *How did a famous cook from Thorepan get to their country?  
> *Where are the other personnel of the castle?  
> *How bad did Bianca do in her driving to trauma the warrior and the short skeleton?  
> *What will happen next to everyone else, especially Papyrus?
> 
> Find out more on the next chapter of the story. Ro-kun, signing off.


	25. Trial by Water: A Dose of Despair and Antidote of Reality. (part two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, Ro-kun here with a new chapter of Seed of Flowey. It's been quite a while, starting from this story's anniversary to the game's anniversary (did I fall inactively). It's been a really tough time for me during those times, but now I should be able to write the story chapters once more! I won't lose my Determination to finish what I've started.

It was night, with the light illuminating a blank room. Slowly, that light is fading darker the more time passes. Eyelids were closing on one person, while a deep slumber pulls all his senses into a death-like state. Life was slowly fading as everyone around the person are becoming less and less significant. Death crept closer, until he felt something warm in his mouth. It was like a spark of flavor that regained his sense of taste and touch. The darkness that was consuming him begins to withdraw, and everything around him is starting to make more sense.

                The king of humans, lying in bed resting, regains consciousness. "Princess, the soup is working for the king. His vitals are starting to regulate, and he's regaining normal brainwave activities" Bianca happily announces, as she held her bowl of soup and spoon near the king's mouth. Kinchi's specialty in cooking and medicine is confirmed to work by all others, but never was it expected to cure even the king's ill curse. "Once he finishes the soup, he should be able to rest at ease. Please wait outside for a moment."

                Frisk could only feel relieved, despite that she cannot approach her recovering father with all the medical utensils in place. She went out of the room, trying to withhold her tears of joy for her father's welfare. Everyone who knows the king, and within knowing of his condition are willing to help him regain his health not because of his position, but because he earned everyone's respect.

                "hey, kid. your dad's goin' to be okay." Sans stands in front of her, before both of them decides to sit by the bench. "Thanks for teleporting us here, Sans." she gives her thanks. The short skeleton could only shrug a little as his grin gives an impression of caring. "how bout' meatbag, is he goin' to be okay?" he asks her. Frisk's smile slightly fades a little. "He'll be okay....I think."

                An uncertain answer from her made the short skeleton chuckle. "he'll be fine, kid. he managed this long..." He gave an answer that is not too convincing. Even Frisk knows that Sans wants Rance out of the way; she hesitates to ask. It didn't take long before the mentioned warrior comes out of his room with the lion man following him from behind. " **It seems that you do not handle shock trauma, do you Rance?** "

                Rance could shook his head lightly, "Not tO be rude, Giga. But I suggest--… you try to come with Bianca when she drives. Hihehi, YOu'll uNDeRrsTand." His tone is off—similar to a drunken man no will take seriously. “ **YOU ARE IN NO CONDITION OF GETTING OFF YOUR BED!** ” the lion man exclaims as he shoves him back to his room. Sans chuckles from the side with the idea of taunting the warrior, though they're in a hospital full of human people. It would be found disastrous if they were to fight here. Not to mention, Frisk is there; she doesn't have the means to stop them by force, only by authority. It's that one moment she's glad that she's royalty.

                For a while now, Sans decides to tag along with them since Papyrus hasn't come back from his walk, yet. It makes them worry. Where's Papyrus? Why hasn't he come back, yet? He was careless enough to let his brother glue him to the chair, let alone let him roam the Human Capital without knowing where to go alone. 'meh, he should be fine....' he shrugs the idea off, but the anxiety builds up. Sans looks at Rance as the warrior talks to the lion man.

                The thought of the tall skeleton getting hurt in North City gives him the idea of blaming the warrior. Rance promises that this city is in order, but what if he lied? He thought. It’s his responsibility to take care of anyone residing in his city, so did the short skeleton thought.

* * *

 

                There was little to no trouble that events Seven Gears had to overcome, all while he stretches his arms up from his desk seat at Rance’s office. He could barely imagine the Royal Guard doing a mountain pile of paperwork, that seems to have been stocked for a long time. But regardless of his whims, Dianne kept him company. Who knew that the moment they crossed the first street of North City, they had a sudden encounter with the famous spider monster chef, Kinchi. The words that escaped the gun man’s mouth as they walk towards their destination, “Maybe we will encounter her someday.” Became an unusual turn of event.

                He jested, but the coincidence of them bumping into the spider monster was uncanny. All Dianne could see was a complete fortunate of luck. He plants his forehead unto the desk filled with documents, while his goggles above his forehead made it feel painful. All he could do is check his other hand, that currently has no guard. He forgot to have his other gauntlet repaired at South City, which Van Rose once mentioned.

                Dianne on the other hand, lays on her chair. She mellows a little, considering all the tickets of vacation her brother had stocked. What is he planning with all those, and why didn’t he take a single break from all the work he put himself into? Thinking back, he did become a Royal Guard because he was appointed as the effigy of the Northern Hope. He must have taken it too seriously. She grumbles for a bit, before jumping off her seat. It didn’t take long before she gets a call from Sans.

                “hey, dianne. have you seen my brother, pap?” the short skeleton hesitates for a moment; he must be still recovering from the hellish driving experience he had. “can’t seem to contact him. he's not picking up his phone, either.” All before Sans could make up another sentence, Rance cuts in with a drunken tone. “Aunt Fingerella made 20 colors, and they’re all retarded~!” Dianne was caught off guard. She knows how much her brother hates alcohol, but somehow, he sounded drunk. She casts it aside. “Where was the last time you saw him? We didn’t see him on the way here.”

                Sans scratches his cheekbone for a moment, and then remembers something. “he went walking with some other guard, kinda.” He didn’t sound sure, as he is not entirely familiar with the city. “Tall and naïve man-child went off at the 18th block of the road.” His tone is still off, but less relentlessly drowsy. “ **what was that, meat puppet?** ” the shorter skeleton cuts him off, all while Dianne can hear Toriel and Bianca on the background yelling at them to stop.

                With a short puff of sigh, she hangs up on them and beckons her companion to go with her. "Let’s go, Sven. We need to look for Papyrus.” All Seven could do is tilt his head forward, with his chin over the table. “Does your brother even do these mountain pile of paperwork?” he gives an assuring doubt that he doesn’t. “He does, and to be honest, this is just 1/10th of the paperwork he does.” He couldn’t comment on what Dianne just stated. They left the office, and went to consult with the clerk at the counter.

                “Why does your brother have a mountain pile of paperwork?” Seven asks, while Dianne nods at the clerk after her consultation. She turns towards the hallway, and into the guard’s station rooms, also known as their break room. “Because it’s also his job to verify the requests given by the citizens. Normally, the standard law enforcers are the ones who take care of things. But…” They enter the room, where they see some of them are removing their armor. Almost similar to Rance’s armor attachments, the guards take of theirs. The difference is that theirs look more or less heavy plated armor pieces.

                They consulted with a certain guard, who was at the 18th block when Bianca was at her stoplight with North and Sans. She appoints her question like a curious person, and gets an unsure response from the guard himself. “He went further north. That fellow seems to be a happy-go-lucky skeleton.” She bid her thanks and her farewell; Seven can imagine how much of a happy skeleton Papyrus can be. She continues with her previous statement. “When problems escalate, the usual complaints are transferred to be dealt with the Guards.” He did read some of the request papers similar to unusual complaints, and half of them are about people disappearing, while the rest involves escalated problems, unwarranted price changes at some stores.

                They went out to walk on the sidewalk leading further north of their location. “But shouldn’t your brother be in the frontlines, with like, literal action?” Seven suggests that thought, while the rogue stops for a moment. Cars pass by like the night’s normal, and when light passes by her, she looks down. “He does, a lot. Other than cleaning off paperwork, he does his best to clean this city.” The traffic light finally suggests a red light, while the pedestrian signal gives them a go signal. “Not every day should involve what you think as ‘action’, like fighting crime or something.” They continue to walk, as the winds blow gently, giving the hanging blades, a chime feeling on her belt.

                “We’re not superheroes in capes.” Her words made Seven think, all while he notices his own scarf blowing like one. He was about to point out his, but she clarified to him “That doesn’t count.” In a middle of a crossroad where passing cars slowly reduce, both have a choice to separate in search for their friend, who seems to have wandered off in the city. “I’ll go right.” The rogue suggests, all he can do is shake his head as if he doesn’t have a choice, and went to the left road.

                It was never the first time the two went separate ways, as the gun man doesn’t seem to mind. He knows that Dianne can cover more ground than he could. With her speed, she can solo the search for Papyrus, but why is he included? He scratches his head for a moment, just before he hits his own goggles by accident. He feels lucky enough to have been a residence of the city, otherwise he would have been another person who is as lost as the tall skeleton.

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIMimINF5pM)]The city lights go behind him slowly go dark behind him, one-by-one the darkness chase him. He feels an ominous presence in that darkness, and ran towards the trail of city lamps without question. It was a familiar feeling, similar to the vibe he got when his apartment was attacked by the man who speaks in hands. There was no question about it, it was Gaster reaching towards him. He could fight him again, but what chance does he have if he confronts the same enemy that took him down easily? A flash of image appears in his head.

                An image of the tall skeleton, standing at the end of the pier, looking at the sea. Even at the flash, he didn’t stop running. Seven shook his head, and in turn he clashed towards one of the lamp posts. His right leg and arms extended, while his body is still feeling the cold pain of the metal shaft. It took him a moment before he becomes unstuck, as his scream of pain echoed throughout the neighborhood. He muffled himself shortly after, while feeling that his nose might have broken.

                “ARRRGHHH!” he tries his best to muffle his cries with his hand, as he forces himself to run in the direction where the pier is. Coincidentally, all the street lights lead to it. It didn’t cross his mind about [ **certain suspicious elements** ] around him; the flickering lights, the absence of people, or even the guards that patrol it. He just ran towards that direction. Blood drops from his nose. Rolling over on solid concrete, he still continues to muffle himself. It didn’t take long before a familiar face appears before him. His sense of pain stopped, as fear takes over. “No….”

                With eyes widen, he felt a strange sensation. Gaster stands before him, extending his hands toward his face. “No….!” the sensation of being taken to a **weird place** , his fear and confusion intensifies. “No. No. No!” he takes his left revolver and aims it at the abductor’s cracked eye. “I don’t want to be taken, again…!” A flashback of Dianne desperately reaching out for him, when he was being taken by Gaster appears.

                He pulls the trigger in haste, at the man who speaks in hands. With the use of his silver revolver, all his attacks are focused on direct firepower. Without thinking, he continues to fire all seven rounds in panic. All bullets went through the abductor. It didn’t take long before it disappeared, all while Seven was frozen on the ground still pointing his gun to where Gaster was standing. “Heh heh heh…” He feels like he's slowly losing it. The gun man starts to chuckle with eyes trembling. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIMimINF5pM)]

                That chuckle turns to laughter; he laughed while his eyes tremble. He drops his hand with the gun on the sidewalk, all while realizing that he felt shooting at an empty space. He asks himself in his mind, ‘was it all a hallucination?’ his chuckles didn’t last long, as it breaks into tears. The fear of being succumb by shadows, all while being blinded by it made it feel like he’s a puppet ready to be used by the mastermind.

                “….Hey….. are you alright…?” a familiar tone of voice was heard. “OH NO…. _SVEN_ IS CRYING TEARS OF JOY, THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAD STOPPED HIS BULLETS!” the unforgettable loud voice snaps him back to reality. Seven Gears shook his head on his sleeves before confirming. Standing before him is Papyrus, with his red scarf flapping with the winds like a superhero and a streetlight lamp lighting behind him. All while seven silver bullets hover and spin over his muffin hand.

                “What..? No, I was… well…” The gun man couldn’t put it to words as the tall skeleton gives him a curious look. “NYEH?” Seven shrugs off the thought and said, “No, never mind.” he tries to stand up from the cold pavement, but for some reason, he couldn’t. When he drops his right hand, he felt something warm and wet. “HUH, SVEN. WHY DO YOU HAVE [ **KETCHUP** ] BEHIND YOU?” He looks back to see that it was warm blood.

                “Huh…?” He lets go of his guns and clutches to his right abdomen, as the pain registers to his system. “COME ON NOW, SVEN. YOU DON’T NEED TO KNEEL IN FRONT OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” he said with arrogance. “This isn’t kneeling, Papyrus… Urk….” It felt as if he was shot by his own gun. “OF COURSE.” Papyrus is acting really weird, that he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Seven can feel something familiarly ominous about him. The gun man forces his senses to focus what that mutual feeling is. He looks back, and noticed that there are only six bullets hovering.

                “…No…” Seven finally realized that the shadow that attacked him, was still there with him. And that dark presence was coming from the tall skeleton. “STAND UP, SEVEN GEARS. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CHALLENGE YOU FAIR AND SQUARE.” He points with an ill content. What Papyrus just said contradicts what he’s doing. “Why are you doing this…?” Seven tries his best to stay composed, regardless of what just happened. Without warning, one of the bullets went straight to his left leg.

                “ARGH! GUUHHH!!!” Seven rolls harder in pain, while Papyrus rubs the tip of his chin with his free hand. “WHY? I WANT A REMATCH.” All the gun man can do is look back at the arrogant tall skeleton. His eyes widen when he saw a vine extending from below his armor torso, all while his right eye hole was oozing with black syntax numbers. That’s when he realized why Papyrus was acting weird.

                Seven tries his best to pull his phone with a bloody hand, only for it to break just when he got it off his pocket. Papyrus used another bullet on him. “TSK, TSK, TSK. THIS IS A ONE-ON-ONE REMATCH. NO ONE WILL INTERFERE US.” Papyrus frowns in disappointment. “STAND UP IF YOU CAN.” One hand he hovers the remaining four, while the other summons a bone spear. The tall skeleton cracks a smile; he waves the spear upward and a line of bones start to erect from the ground. The gun man forces himself to kick the ground, rolling to the side as his wounds continue to bleed.

                He flails in pain, all while he doesn’t have his guns with him. The bones sent his dropped revolvers flying up high. Seven couldn’t fight him at this state. “YOU’RE NO MATCH FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS.” Seven Gears was given a moment to make a choice.

[ ~~ATTACK~~ ]           [ ♦ACT ]           [ ITEM ]           [ ~~MERCY~~ ]

                Seven sits up and looks at the tall skeleton. “Papyrus, if you can hear me… What you’re doing… This isn’t a rematch…!” The gun man tries to reason with him. “What you’re doing, is unfair!” Papyrus looks at him with disgust and disappointment. “…UNFAIR?” Two bullets fire straight for his shoulders, forcing him to fall down and cry in pain. “IT’S NOT FAIR THAT HUMANS HAVE SOUL TRAITS!” A large bone erects underneath the crippled gun man, sending him flying. “IT’S NOT FAIR THAT YOU HAVE GUNS WITH BOUNCING BULLETS!”

                Seven falls flat on the ground, while he looks up to Papyrus walking towards him. That tall skeleton lifts up the gun man with his powers. “AND IT’S NOT FAIR THAT THERE ARE OTHERS GREATER THAN ME.” With two remaining bullets floating, it was directly aimed at Seven’s forehead. ‘I’m sorry…’ The last thing Seven thought to himself, as he remembered the happy moments he had with his step father, Giga.

                “ **Don’t give up, Sven!** ” The bullets were deflected by a couple of daggers, and then Dianne jumps down to the rescue. “Stop this, Papyrus! This isn’t like you!” she said that, with both her hands readied with daggers. “OF COURSE, YOU HAVE TO BE GREATER THAN THE GREAT PAPYRUS.” He gives an evil smirk, “BUT NOT ANYMORE.” The numbers that were oozing from his eye hole suddenly stops, and then a dark orange light blinks once. Without warning, the rogue’s skin color turns gray. The tall skeleton stops her from her tracks.

                “IF I CAN’T BE GREAT, THEN YOU SHOULDN’T BE!” Bones appeared from mid-air and flies toward both of them. At the same time, the tall skeleton held his spear with both hands like a baseball bat, and swings it upwards. Three lines of bones start to erect towards the near-dead gun man and the stopped rogue. Just before the bones could inch towards them, they disappeared. “WHAT?!” Eyes baffled like a silly villainous cartoon. A gust of wind shreds the bones into dust. He covers his eye holes to prevent the dust from coming in.

                “pap, what are you doing?” Sans asks his brother from the back, accompanied by Giga and Frisk. The lion man couldn’t bear witness that his son is in worst condition. He kneels down to Seven to mend his wounds, all while the frozen rogue was set to their side. “ **Your brother must be stopped…** ” despite the deep voice he had, he said it in a low tone of voice.  Giga is getting fed up with his son being put in the worst situation. Frisk checks Papyrus from a distance, and noticed that there’s a vine extending on his lower torso. "YOU, HOW DID YOU FIND ME?!" he didn't sound close to the kind and cool Papyrus that they knew, instead he sounded too irritated. The short skeleton looks down on his phone in his pocket, with a lighted message from Alphys.

                'Papyrus is located on these coordinates, you should be able to find him. ^_^'

                'Seven is also nearby, you should see both of them getting along.'

               The thought of irony, it wasn't the 'get along' Alphys had in mind. “Sans, I need you to distract Papyrus.” The child said without explanation. The short skeleton seems to feel that Frisk will need to get close to his brother. “why’s tha—” he also starts to notice it as another one extended from the tall skeleton’s right arm. “that little weed… will have the worst time.” Sans sent bones flying without warning, and Frisk flinched when he acted without saying another word. Bones collide and break on mid-air. Giga shouts, “ **Young one, do not lower your guard!** ” he looks back.

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17467ag0ODM)]“THREE VERSUS ONE IS NOT FAIR!” Papyrus exclaims as he attacks with his flying bones. Sans is just sending his to break his brother’s attacks. “kid, you do what you do.” Sans said while the side of his cheek sweats down. The tall skeleton’s attacks are suddenly becoming faster. Frisk pulls her phone out, and uses her space inventory. She equips her [ **Steel Hobby Horse** ] in defense, and uses it as a cover.

                Lines of bones are being send towards Dianne, but Frisk hammers down her weapon’s head, breaking them in the process. She charges toward Papyrus as most of the bones heading towards her are being taken care of by Sans. Whenever the short skeleton misses a bone, Frisk immediately reacts by breaking it with her metal toy. One bone suddenly zips towards Frisk’s hand, scratching it a little. The child hesitates for a moment, but the lion man immediately casts his wind gust. The wind healed her scratch, while the incoming bones were shredded to dust.

                “YOU WANT A FIGHT? I, THE GREATEST OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL SHOW NO MERCY!” More bones erect from the ground while some of them rains from above, but with two supporting the child, she inches closer with no problems. Frisk decides to [♥ ACT] and lets one of his bones hit her stomach. “kid…!” Sans shouts in concern, as same as Giga shouts “ **Young Frisk!** ”. She drops her steel hobby horse, and fell just in front of the tall skeleton, while curling herself into a ball in pain.  “You…beat me.”

                “I DID?!” Papyrus felt baffled. “Yes. The great Papyrus… beats me, the princess in a … fair fight.” Frisk puts up an act of mercy and plays dead; he bought the act and felt self-achieved. “OH MY GOD. I JUST BEAT THE PRINCESS!!” he puts his hands on his cheekbones while he indulges the moment. Sans was speechless, but it looks like he saw through Frisk’s real attempt. Although the lion man did not, and also believe what just happened. “ **How dare you hurt the young ones!** ” he puts his unconscious son down on the ground, and stands up with his staff reforming into his hand. With a hard swing of his staff, a harsh gust of wind blows from the back, sending the tall skeleton towards him.

                Frisk felt the gust and saw Papyrus flew towards the enraged lion man. “Giga, don’t--!” Papyrus crackles and said “THAT’S FINE. YOU’RE NEXT!” The flying tall skeleton was suddenly warped to a safe distance, while Giga looks around. Sans snaps his fingers, as a number of blue bones impale the lion man in place. “don’t move, kitty. you don’t need to swipe my brother.” Sans said without a care. “ **Are you just going to let him hurt her, and my son?!** ”

                “….you want to have a **bad time** , kitty…?” Sans said with a malice tone of voice. His bones flicker from blue to white. Frisk sits up and shouts “Sans, don’t--!” her color turns gray, and stays in place. The short skeleton also becomes gray, as his eye hole fails to shine in blue. Giga jumps away, taking damage just before the bones turn solid white, while he looks back at Papyrus, who now has three dark orange pupils in one eye, brimming at the lion man. “I DON’T NEED MY BROTHER’S HELP TO BEAT YOU. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BECOME THE GREATEST OF THE GREAT EVER!”

                His voice sounded close to a syntax, while his actions contradict his intentions. The lion man was becoming lost to his rage, since all of his companions are either frozen still or incapacitated. “ **Let’s see how great you really are without your dirty tricks…!** ” He raised his hand up, while saying unknown words in a tone of song. Wind enveloped his body. “YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN BEAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS?” the tall skeleton taunts as with him swinging his bone spear. A wave of bones diagonally raced towards him like a tidal wave.

                Without warning, the bones that were supposed to drown Papyrus’ opponent into a sea of bones, all of it turned to dust. The tall skeleton couldn’t believe it with his own piercing eye glow, that all of it disappeared. “ **My turn…** ” he pulls his bo staff down for a moment, and then swings it diagonally. The racing winds are at his command, as it starts to shred the tall skeleton’s costume armor, as well as his bone spear. Giga’s attacks were viciously controlled only to have them tamed to a degree.

                “GUWAHHHHH!!!!” Papyrus exclaims in pain. He didn’t realize it until he looks back, to see that he was in mid-air. “NO, I WON’T LET YOU BEAT ME!” the tall skeleton summons a number of bones to appear unto the lion man’s side, only for them to be shredded in an instant. Once more, Giga swings his bo staff, while Papyrus swings his. Bones that are fired from afar are sent into different directions, while some that are close are destroyed almost immediately. For the tall skeleton to be in a tight situation is making him lose his composure.

                Papyrus’ eye glow is starting to flicker on and off, while everyone else who were caught in his time spell are slowly regaining movement. Dianne and Frisk were the first to regain their colors. “What the?! Giga?” Dianne slips for a moment due to the strong pressure of the wind generated by the lion man’s surroundings. “Papyrus!!” Frisk exclaims out loud. Like being caught in an invisible tornado, the tall skeleton spins uncontrollably in mid-air. Papyrus is slowly losing conscious. [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17467ag0ODM)]

                “Giga, please stop!” Frisk stands up and begs for mercy. Giga ignores her plea, with his eyes glimmering in terrifying azul. “Giga, that’s enough!” Dianne said with her chained daggers flying towards his staff. Instead, her daggers were deflected as if his wind acted like a shield. “ **For you to hurt my son… I will not forgive you…!** ” He bares his teeth and growls like an animal. Something was not right. Dianne realized it before Frisk could. A dot blinks on the side of his neck, while the look on his face makes him look more aggressive.

                “… Dad, that’s enough!” From behind, the gun man stands up with a saddened look on his face. He stands up with his fists clenched down, and confronts him as if his wounds were non-existent. Giga looks back in shock, as Seven’s voice was definitely heard. “ **Seven…!** ” the raging wind around them had come to a halt, and the tired tall skeleton falls down from the sky. Dianne jumps from one building wall up to another, just high enough to catch Papyrus. His eye hole stops glowing, and falls unconscious. As soon as Dianne lands on her feet, Sans regains his colors and Frisk rushes to the rogue.

                “Papyrus!!” she went to the tall skeleton, while the short skeleton warps in front of Dianne. “It’s okay, Frisk. Papyrus is resting for now..” Dianne’s hands start to glow in green as well as her left chest and eyes. The vines that were visible from the outside starts to wither, and Papyrus’ unconscious body starts to relax itself. “welp, better call tori about this.” Sans jests with his phone at hand. They didn’t even realize how he got it to his hand. Aside from them being concern about Papyrus’ state, Frisk looks back to see what’s the development between the step-father and son.

                “ **Seven…! Are you, all right?** ” Giga asks while holding on both of the gun man’s shoulders. Despite the wounds not being visible, his attire is still soaked in blood. Seven brushes the other’s hands off of him and gave a sincere smile. “I’m okay, dad. Don’t worry.” In response to that, he hugs the lion man and said “Just please, no more. No one needs to get hurt anymore.” His child-like actions are becoming questionable. “ **Son, what’s wrong—** ” It didn’t take long before he suddenly let go of his hug, and was about to fall to the ground. “ **Seven, wake up! Seven!** ”

                Dianne happens to look back at the two, and noticed another person behind Seven. The person looked similar to someone she saw when they were cooking at Rance’s house. She looks at them in disbelief and confusion. The person looks back at her and the two, and smiled sincerely at her with his green eyes. A sincere, kind smile that resembled Seven’s unusual earnest smile a moment ago. To her notice as she blinks, the person disappears. “..Did, you see that person behind them?” the rogue looks at Frisk and Sans. The child shook her head in decline, and the short skeleton shrugs in ignorance. “who knows? let's get out of here…”

                For a moment, all the lights around them went dim. When the light posts came back, the place was suddenly crowded again. All of the damages around them disappear, guns were holstered back to Seven's gun holster, and Frisk's Steel Hobby Horse is back in her inventory, as if what they just did never happened. To their surprise, some of the people had taken notice of the lion man carrying someone who’s coated in blood. But luckily, they didn’t react in fear. “Oh my god, Seven!” One of them had exclaim in concern, while another one followed. One after another had echoed their concerns.

                “Giga, what happened?!”                             “Is Seven all right?”                         “How did this happen?!”                              “He’s covered in blood!”                               “He needs to be treated immediately!!”                “Why is the princess here?!”                “Dianne, who are you carrying?”                               “I remember that guy, he’s that happy-go-lucky skeleton!”                           “Was there a fight?!”

                It only took a matter of time before Sans felt the intensity of a crowd asking too many questions, that he erected a barrier of blue bones. “take it easy, folks. nothin' to see here.” As soon as he sinks them, Frisk follows, “We were looking for them, and we kind of found them in the alley.” The princess bids concern, “Can we ask for a taxi?” Without hesitation, someone with a five-seater car was there. “Hop in, guys! I can take you a ride to there.” A kind stranger offers his assistance. A woman follows to his suit, “Anything for the king’s daughter!” Their willingness to help them, somehow filled Frisk with [ **Determination** ]. But Sans was filled with doubt.

                ‘never in any timelines would go this far for the kid…’ the short skeleton thought, as he enters the car along with everyone else. The lion man couldn’t answer, as his focus was on his son only. Dianne looked like she saw a ghost, while Frisk nods in response only. Suddenly, one random person comes up to the car’s window. “Hey Giga, you drop this.” He hands it over to Sans first.

[Sans received **Black Wolf Gem** ]

                “huh, what’s this?” Sans asks. “It dropped when he started to walk towards the car. I think it belongs to him, since we’ve never seen something like this before.” The person could’ve had it pawned for money, since it looks exquisitely unique. A black gem with a silver wolf sign inside of it. It gleamed for a moment, and faded in black. “what was that? I better ask alphys about this.” Dianne was looking down for a moment, trying to absorb what just happened, and then he looks to her side as Giga was seated in between her and the short skeleton.  

In a moment, while Sans was rotating it around, the eye of the wolf emblem glinted once at the rogue’s eyes, which got her attention. The car starts to move, while the people around them bid their farewell and prayed for their safety. A gem that looks similar to the chocolate brown bear gem Seven had picked up.

-To be continued…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far, how was the story? Papyrus being leeched by someone was a hint from the previous chapter. Was it envy that caused him to act **cowardly** Did you catch on to that? How about that _other person_ that Dianne keeps seeing? Who was that person and why does it linger with Dianne and Seven? What is that gem for? And lastly, [ **who fixed everything** ]? Stay tune for more Seed of Flowey chapters.
> 
> Songs attached to the story chapter belongs and are credited to their respective owners.


	26. Chapter 25: Trial by Water: A Dose of Despair and Antidote of Reality. (part three)

                Back at the castle, Asriel sits at the side of the open window, looking at the clear skies. The moon is at its quarter crescent, while the stars twinkle without end. At that moment, he was reflecting back at what happened in the kitchen. The whole misunderstanding lead to an inevitable fight between him and a spider chef. Despite the wind blowing, he couldn’t put himself to rest. “What is Frisk doing?” he asks to himself. Someone knocks on the door, and he looks at it. Toriel comes in to check on the goat child.

                “Asriel, are you all right?” the caretaker asks. He could only shake his head in decline. “No, mom.” He replies. Toriel comes to approach her son, and sits next to him. “What’s wrong?” He hesitates to tell her the problem, since it might involve into a bigger trouble. Instead, he tries to think of something else. “Mom, can I go outside?” he thought of saying. Toriel declines, “No, Asriel. Not at this time. We’re going back to the monster capital tomorrow, until everything is sorted out.”

                “With Flowey outside, as well.. **My counterpart**.” Asriel puts it out bluntly. “I just need to go somewhere and think for a while.” Toriel is silent for a moment. She stands up and goes to the doorway to block it. “I cannot allow you to go out, Asriel.” She said with a serious tone of voice. “I don’t want you to go out and lose yourself to that..that awful creature!” Chara in Asriel feels like this happened before. ‘ _Easy, Asriel. It looks like you need to fight her if you want to go out—_ ”

                Without a second thought, Asriel looks down for a moment and jumps back in. “I know, Chara. I need to get past her if I want to go out…” he knows that he’s being tested. He can visualize what happened to her and Frisk when she was blocking the pathway. To him, he has another way, other than fighting and being patient with her, or turning back and not doing anything. Toriel waits for an answer, and instead of a voiced reply, she gets something in return.

                Asriel climbs on the window and jumps outside. “My child, no!” she screams in terror. She rushes to see outside of the window, fearing that her own son committed suicide. As soon as she looks outside, she sees that the goat child had transformed into his adult form and flies down safely. “Asriel! Come back!” Her plea was ignored as he proceeds to go to the back of the castle. The caretaker asks herself why he’s desperate to go out. To her thought, is he concern for Frisk’s welfare, or is it that she did something that was wrong? Immediately, she exits the room and asks for help.

* * *

 

                In Asriel’s attempt to go around and out of the castle grounds, he ends up in South City. In his current adult form, he can simply cloak himself and travel by himself. But despite the possibility, he fears that while he ponders to himself, he might end up cancelling his cloaking magic. He also can’t put anyone who encounters them to sleep, as the unusual situation might get reported to the royal guards.

                “Hey…!” I young boy calls from afar. The goat prince looks to where the voice originated from, and notices that he’s the one being referred to. “Over here, quick!” his voice is loud enough to alert anyone, but for some reason he’s being ignored. The young boy had short white hair, and a green shirt with cartoony armor designs. Asriel notices that something’s wrong, but with all other options he could think of are risks, he follows the child.

                After a few zigzags and routes followed, they stop for a moment to breathe in and out. The young boy looks at the side, making sure that the area is clear from the guards. In a moment, Asriel accidentally transforms back into his child form. The child reacts in awe with his hands on his face. “Wow, you can transform!” the goat child immediately puts his hand over the other’s mouth, “Shhh! The guards might hear us!” he looks around in caution. It’s not every day for anyone to see someone transform into a younger version, even more to encounter a goat monster roaming the human city without being scarred for life.

                “Hey, are you an **angel**?” The child asks with a cheery curiosity? “Uhhhh.” Asriel doesn’t know how to respond to that. “It’s like you can fly, and you’re white! Papa told me that Angels are flying white creatures with wings!” Chara gives a weird thought. “ _But I didn’t have wings…_ ” he replies with a weird taunting face. “Duh! Angels hide their wings, don’t they?” Asriel felt dumbfounded by the human child’s interaction, as he runs out of the alley. “Follow me~! Everything should be clear now!”

                “Hey, wait--!” Asriel follows the human child without thinking of the risk, and suddenly bumps to a large person. “Asriel…?!” Darvenshel happens to pass by, surprised to see the goat child out in the open. “M-mr Darvenshel!” He hesitates for a moment before occurring to him that he should run. “Oh no you don’t!” aside with the green armored royal guard’s heavy weight, his reflex to catch him was uncanny. “Your mother was worried about you!” as he lifts him by the collar with one hand.

                “How did you know?!” It was strange for the western royal guard to know about his situation with Toriel. “She told your father, and he called me, Van and Tridon… In short, I just received the call, and you happen to be here.” Asriel tries to get away from him, and makes an attempt to transform once more. Then, he heard the child shout, “No, don’t!” Asriel looks around, looking for the voice he just heard.

                “What’s wrong, Asriel? It looks like you heard someone call you.” It’s weird that Darvenshel didn’t notice someone tell him not to transform. Asriel then spots the white-haired child at a different block of the road, putting his finger in between his teethed mouth, signaling him to be quiet about it. He’s a suspicious child, but for some reason, the goat child trusts him. “Nothing. I wanted to go out for a walk.” The green tank looks confused at first, raising an eyebrow while thinking why he had to run away. The thought didn’t bother him much, as he laughs it off.

                “Well, why didn’t you say so?” Darvenshel gently puts him down, and gave him a pat on the back. Asriel looks back confused, as the other replies, “Your mother must’ve been worried because that flower might take you hostage again, but I won’t allow that to happen.” Strange that the royal guard seems carefree. “Don’t worry, Asriel. I’ll tell your mom that you’re with me for the night, okay? I’ll keep you safe from harm.” Chara is having doubts, but again, Asriel is naïve enough to believe him.

                “Thank you, Mr. Darvenshel.” Asriel said with a smile. “You can call me **Darv** or **Vens**.” It left the goat child to ponder for a moment. What nickname should he use?

[ **Darv** ]   [ **Vens** ] [♥ **Uncle** ]

                “I…don’t want to be rude, but I’ll just call you **Uncle** , since you are like an good uncle.” Asriel’s kind reply made the green tank look away in shy. To the back of Chara’s mind, Asriel never did have any other relatives other than his own parents. “Uncle… That’s fine by me, Asriel.” He looks at the goat child. “Hey, uh. Can we go there? I think I saw a hotdog stand.” Chara thinks for her best friend, ‘ _seriously? A hotdog stand? There shouldn’t be one open at this hour._ ’ Despite her attempts, the green tank went along with the charade. “Let’s go see, Asriel.” They proceed to walk towards where the white-haired child went. There wasn’t a hotdog stand, but they do see a peanut stand instead.

                South City is known for ironworks and dark ambience, since it’s the only city in the Human Capital to have a graveyard site. Rarely do small street food businesses open up in that specific city. “Oh, a peanut stand.” Darvenshel announces. They went and approach the man behind the small stand, as he cooks up a good batch of peanuts. The smell lingers the area; the fragrance alone should attract customers who are passing by. “Golly, it smells delicious!” Asriel announces. “Wait on this spot, I’ll get us a bag full of them.” Darvenshel kneels down as he said that, while scuffling his head before he goes.

                Asriel waits for the green tank as he orders. Darvenshel raises his hand, giving an indication of two. The cook nods and gets two paper bags. Their size is just about the size of the goat child’s body. The green tank shakes his head for one of the bags, and the cook gets a smaller one. This time, he nods for approval. “So, you’re getting pea~nuts?” the white-haired child sneaks up on him from behind. “Guwah!” he jumps, as he looks back in retort. “You scared me!” he said; the child pokes the goat child’s ears as he said “Your ears are so big! They just flew up.”

                “Please, do not touch my ears…” Asriel whimpers in shame. “Who are you anyway, and why are you…” At that moment, the young boy shifts his attention towards the incoming green tank and flees to one of the roadways. The goat child only realized it when he finally notices the metal greaves clang louder. “Here are your peanuts, young Asriel.” Darvenshel gave the bag to him; the goat child looks at how much he was given—it was a lot.

                Asriel looks back at Darvenshel. “B-but, I can’t finish all of this!” the royal guard looks back at him and replied with a smile, “That’s okay. You can share that with the princess later.” The goat child doesn’t really know what he thinks, nor does the other human child. All he could do is follow him, but what does he want to do?

[Go back home] [ ♥ Follow the child]

                With his mind still at unease, he decides to look and follow the child. There must be something he could gain—or at least something that could clear his mind. As much as he knows how wrong it is to run away from his parents for selfish reasons, he felt that he can gain something out of it. ‘I’m sorry, Mom and Dad…’ he thought to himself. “Uh, Uncle?” he meekly asks for a moment. “What is it, Asriel?” the green tank asks in curiosity.

                “I… want to walk around more. I need to get away from the castle for now.” Asriel tries to reason out, but instead it made Darvenshel even more curious. “Did something happen with you and your mother?” his guess is almost right. “No, it’s just—” Darvenshel can see how much pain Asriel is feeling just by looking at his eyes. “You just want to be alone for a while, right?”

                He puts his hand over the goat child’s head and rubbed it gently. “As much as I want to leave you alone, I won’t let you be alone at this hour.” As soon as he removes his hand, the goat child crosses his arms and looks away. _“That was the same thing you told me when you didn’t know I was a monster.”_ Chara states, as they both recalled his first encounter with the green tank somewhere. And yet, they felt no difference from then when he said it at this time: **sympathy and patience** —No deception or ulterior motive.

                Maybe there is more to him than meets the eye, as Asriel had recall his own father to be just as kind as Frisk’s father. Behind their kindness bears the weight of suffering like no other. Despite they have experienced different sufferings, each had its own story. “Maybe, I don’t really want to be alone right now. Maybe, I just want to be somewhere else with someone.” The goat child said in gloom. His indecisive tone expresses so much that Darvenshel lifts him up.

                “Hey--!” He puts him on his shoulders and said, “Try to cheer up, young Asriel. As [ **my son** ] once said, ‘If you’re feeling confused, it’s better to cry it out in your sleep. By tomorrow, you will feel better.’” The way he quoted it made it sounded like the young child who ventured with the goat child in this city. ‘Maybe there are many people like him.’ He thought. “You had a son?” Asriel asks, while Darvenshel walks them to a different roadway. “Yes, I had a son once.” His tone changed. “What happened to him?”

                “I…lost my son in an accident.” As the goat child was about to eat his first peanut, he drops it in shock. “Golly, I’m so sorry for aski—” Darvenshel interrupts him. “There’s no need for you to apologize, young Asriel. It’s all in the past now.” The walk continues in silence. All he could do was stay silent. He couldn’t suggest anything, not even his usual ‘everything’s going to be fine.’ Instead, he wonders where they’re going. Darvenshel keeps walking to a certain place where he’s not familiar with. “So, Uncle… Where are we going?”

                “…. Oh, I’m sorry for not telling you. We’re going to visit Van—the Southern Royal Guard.” His tone and mood seem to have shifted back to his old pleasant self. “That’s okay…” Asriel replies with a smile. But he wonders what happened to the human child who pestered him a while ago. As soon as Darvenshel turns right, they see what seems to be a large quarter. The walls were gray and red, and the lights from the window are clear white. It looks like a large police headquarters, but it feels different.

                The Human Capital’s crest—describes as a kite shield with two swords sheathed behind it, with a compass in the middle, resides on top of it, with the compass needle pointing at South. Inside is filled with guards that are busy going back and forth. The place seems restless, as everyone who works inside are going from one place to another. Like a team that works in and out. None of them paid attention to Darvenshel as they are too busy. It felt rude for Asriel and for Chara, but not for the green tank.

                “Do not mind them, Asriel. Despite that South City looked like there’s nothing happening there, the guards are working to the bone to make sure that the nights will stay peaceful.” Darvenshel states, as they walk into a room, which looks like the blacksmith’s. “Howd—" Before he could even finish the word, and without warning, a newly hammered sword was thrown into their direction, nearly hitting Asriel by the hair. The weapon stabs through the wall, while all the goat child could do was squeak.

                “Now South, you must pay attention to whom you throw your newly made weapons.” The green tank states calmly, while the goat child whimpers in shock. Van turns around with a scowl on her face. She looks like a somewhat like blacksmith with her black top shirt, her charcoal smith combat pants, work gloves and boots. Despite her looks, she still looks dangerous with her pistol holstered on her side and her intense glare towards both of them, Chara assumes.

                “What do you want?” South said in stern. Just behind her is a on open case of newly made kitchen utensils. The fireplace’s light brings a warm reflection towards them, as Chara in Asriel notices the fine craftsmanship. If she were still the same as the former Genocider, it would bring down anyone with a small cut, rather than a clean slash. Asriel paid mind towards her idea and thought to her not to.

                “You seem to be eyeing my work.” Van Rose notices the goat child looking at the set she made. “Now, Rose. It’s better not to intimidate Young Asriel with your handiwork.” Darvenshel calmly states. “He’s looking at them as if he can use it for anything else BUT cooking.” She bluntly replies. “Ah, no. It’s just…” Asriel was going to explain himself, but without warning, Darvenshel lifts him off his shoulder and puts him down. “I may need to go to the restroom. Now Van, please take care of him while I take care of some business.”

                “Hmph. You don’t need to tell me that.” she states coldly. Asriel is becoming nervous; he’s going to be left alone with the harsh southern royal guard. It could’ve been better if Darvenshel lets him tag along. “Can I come alo—” he looks back in panic, “Have fun, you two.” He cheerfully said as he waves goodbye. The goat child is afraid to look back, assuming that he was just left with her giving a scowl or a menacing smirk. “Relax yourself, Prince Asriel.” She calmly states as she walked towards a nearby stool to sit on. Her tone of voice didn’t show any form of aggression.

                He finally turns around with hesitation. Just at the side are three stools. The walls next to them are covered with weapons ranging from short and sharp blades to long poles and heavy blunt. ‘ _Did she make all of these?_ ’ Chara is rather impressed that she had that kind of arsenal. On their left are mostly smith hammers and other metals that can be used to forge the weapons. He lightly presses his fingers together and pulls them away as he curiously asks. “Did you, craft all of these weapons?”

                “That’s correct. Personally, I’m the royal guard who smiths equipment.” She said in a seriously, but prideful tone. “Aside from that. Why are you here with West? Shouldn’t you be in the castle under your parents’ and the Princess’ care?” she directly asks. Again, she scowls at him in suspicion. Her glare alone screams in different threatening meanings, but that didn’t let the goat child get the best of him. He calmly went to the stool next to her, and began giving his story.

                [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlC5xRsl6Nk)]The reason why he left the castle to wander off, and his encounter with the white-haired child and Darvenshel. He said with no hesitations or takebacks—facing her eye to eye without looking back or stuttering. Even though he sounded meek whenever Rose raises a brow, he barely showed any signs of hesitation. As soon as he finishes explaining everything, South couldn’t help but smile a little. “I see.”

                Despite her remark, her smile fades away almost immediately. “I can understand why you need to get away, but instead of jumping off the window, you could’ve had an adult accompany you out.” Her suggestion is out of place, since the situation between the humans and monsters is unstable. “’We’re on the verge of war because of Flowey, so I can’t simply ask any human to accompany me.’ Is what you’re thinking right now, right?” her suspicion towards him cannot be avoided, since he was a part of Flowey. She lets out a sigh, as she continues. “Look, if the princess and the king trusts you, then I should, too. But you better not pull anything suspicious with any of us. **It’s easier to break our trust than to earn it**.” [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlC5xRsl6Nk)]

                Asriel swallows a little when Rose looks at him with those words.  The blonde militant looks at the fireplace and said “Even so, you’re still doing your best to shoulder all this.” The tension dissipates, and it mood in the room lightens a bit. “You don’t need to be alone in all this. Which is why Darvenshel and Rance trusts you. King Farlon and Princess Frisk as well.” The goat child looks at her with a slightly more cheery expression. “Miss… Thank you—” a jolt of fear strikes him hard as she places her sharp sword towards his neck. “That’s Miss Van… Prince Asriel.”

                Her attempts to shaken Asriel succeeded. She mounts her sword back into the wall, as she crosses her arms together. The goat child doesn’t know what to make of the situation; the southern royal guard resembles Undyne in a more threatening way. But her words give purpose, as her only warning to him is not to betray anyone. “ _You don’t need to threaten my best friend in anyway._ ” Chara says with a glare as well. Van glares back in response to theirs. Asriel felt slightly nervous for what she’s trying to do. South replies with a crack of grin. “So you’re the first human child who befriended him. I like you.”

                Chara smiles back in hostility. “ _Your way with people is interesting. To say so, at least._ ” Despite their remarks to one another, they seem to get along. “At least I know that you’re taking care of him.” Asriel takes back his control over his body. “H-hey! I wonder where Uncle Darvenshel is!” he nervously changes the topic. The green tank hasn’t come back yet. “He better not have clogged the toilets.” Van said aggressively. “Hey, Asriel. You mentioned that you encountered a [ **young child with white hair** ]. Where did you see him last?”

                It surprised the goat child that she suddenly brought up the question. “By the street where the peanut vendor was.” She becomes silent for a moment. Van stands up from her stool, as she heads for the door. “Wait for me. I will tag along with Darvenshel and you for this nightwalk.” She didn’t respond immediately. There was a sign of hesitation where it could mean something. “I would like to meet this young boy you mention.” The goat child wonders, while pulling up his bag of peanuts. He starts to munch a small quantity as the blonde militant takes her leave.

                A few minutes later, Van Rose comes back in her black uniform, with her sword and gun sheathed at her side. Darvenshel was behind her. “I apologize, Young Asriel. It was a long business.” He slightly chuckes before sighing in relief. “We will accompany you, just to be on the safe side.” The blonde militant said with a commanding tone. Chara suspects that she’s hiding something from them both. As they walk outside, the guards are working restlessly. It seems that they’re on a deadline based from their rushed movements. One guard was carrying a pile of paperwork, and as he runs to the side just passing Van, she takes one and reads it casually.

                Another one was walking calmly, as if he had just finished his work. She gave him the paper she just read, and the guard suddenly goes in a rush. They work without saying anything to each other; with a gesture and an eye contact, they already know what to do. Much like machines set up automatically. One paper fell from someone’s pile, as it comes toward Asriel. He catches it by hand takes a look at it. It was by a glance, but he saw [ **a man similar to Gaster’s figure** ]. Darvenshel immediately takes the paper and reads the description.

                Upon exiting the headquarters, the green tank starts the conversation. “So, there is a suspicious con-artist found in your city. This man might have some connection with [ **the disappearance of some of your residence** ]. It’s weird for Asriel to simply hear this from his supposed uncle. “It might be this Gaster monster, and if it is…” her last words were like a strike of knife. Her threats are what makes her interesting to Chara, but terrifying to Asriel. “Then, we need to be ready…” the goat child spoke.

                They walk forward to the northern part of the city, as the goat child takes the lead. Asriel looks around restlessly, as he is nervous about Van’s hidden intentions. He looks back at the two, and notices that the blonde militant was looking around as well. She might be looking around because of the human child the goat child had mentioned. Asriel thought to himself, why is she looking around almost as restlessly as he is? Is there something about that boy that makes her look alerted? He thought. ‘ _We can guess that she has a connection with that boy. Also, they have mentioned something about **people going missing**._ ’

                ‘We need to find him first before they do. We might be able to help—” he looks to his right, and notices a young boy’s silhouette. Asriel starts to run towards it without warning. “Asriel, where are you going?!” Darvenshel asks loudly, as he and Van follows. South never bothers to reply, as she runs forward and faster than the green tank. Instead, he began to walk. To an alleyway did the goat child go, there was a glowing arrow on the wall, leading somewhere. ‘Did he paint this?’ he felt something wasn’t right. Regardless, he followed it without a second thought.

                Van is just behind him, but why is she just chasing him? Chara continues to suspect something. ‘ _She isn’t in pursuit, she is just following us._ ’ In Asriel’s thought, he said ‘Then, let’s lose her.’ A puff of smoke surrounds him, and slowly he becomes transparent. He run and followed the only guide he has, but still Van is right behind him. She must be relying her sense of hearing to listen to his footsteps. Going left, forward, forward, right, left, and forward, they made it out of the alley. It was strange that there were no other people in the vicinity.

                The arrows lead out, and at front is something that Asriel never expects. A graveyard arc just at the other side of the road. Right there is the white-haired human child waving at him with a cheerful look on his face. “Over here, **Asriel**!” he was surprised. How did he know his name? He remembered not telling his name to him. “How did you—” to make things weird, he knows that he was at the other side of the road, while he was cloaked in invisibility. His cloak expires as he felt nervous. “How did he…?” Just behind him was Van with his eyes shimmering in hostility at him.

                “Where do you think you’re going…?” her threatening tone did not even reach the goat child. “Hey, wait!” he shouts while he runs toward the South City Graveyard. To her eyes, she didn’t see anyone inside. Asriel rushes in there, as Van follows. “Wait, Asriel!” the sound of a young boy giggle echoes throughout, while the goat child is trying desperately to find the boy. “Catch me if you can, **Asriel**!” he said again. “Where are you?!” the goat boy replies in worry.

                He ventures deeper into the graveyard, and in his worry, he didn’t see an open grave in front of him. “Woah, ahh--!” he was about to fall in but Van immediately caught his hand. “I got you!” she pulls him up towards her into a hug. Like a mother cradling a child, she asks “Are you okay?” Asriel was going to say that he’s okay, until he looks at her. She still has eyes that can make a baby cry. In this case, the goat child barely held himself from crying.

                “What are you doing? You suddenly ran as if you saw someone!” she puts him down as she scolds him. “I saw the white-haired child go this way, but because his voice was everywhere, I lost track of him.” Van starts to wonder. “Are you sure you heard his voice?” She shows signs of doubt. “Because from my eyes, you were simply **running around randomly**.” It made him think. “But I’m sure I was following him around! He was just around here--!” just behind the blonde militant what the white-haired child taunting him.

                “Miss Van, look!” he points behind her as fast as possible. “Hmm… Are you pointing at that gravestone?” she doesn’t see the young boy at all. Like a child, he lightly pulls a part of the blonde militant’s clothes, and something clicked. Asriel’s body glowed along with Van’s, and in that moment, the young boy became visible. “Oh no!” the white-haired child panics and runs away. “…No. That voice…that can’t be.” Van said in denial. She went after him ahead of Asriel.

                “Miss Van!” he follows. It felt like a short sprint, as South was able to catch the boy. “Who are you?! Who are your parents?!” she reacts in hostile as she pulls the young boy’s arm. “Stop, it hurts!” Asriel pulls both of them away from each other, but Asriel doesn’t let go of the boy’s arm. “Miss Van, please don’t hurt him.” The blonde militant pulls away her arm as she stares them like a knife to the throat. “Before that, who are you and how did you know my name?” Asriel looks at the young boy. The sad child looks away and doesn’t say a word.

                “My name if Palette Bastille. [ **A tiny flower told me** ] that it was your name.” Palette said in worry. Van looks at him in distrust. Asriel glares back at the blonde militant. Before he could ask why she was very harsh at him, she answered “Palette Bastille…is Darvenshel’s son.” The goat child couldn’t believe what the blonde militant just said. “What…?” Asriel thinks back about what the green tank said. He did mention that he had a son, and before he could ask, Van interrupts the confusion.

                “But that’s impossible… You died a long time ago.” As she reflects back, if it weren’t for Asriel’s ability, she wouldn’t see him. But then he thought, “You didn’t use any **_illusion magic_** to make this appear, right?” her suspicion towards the goat child grows. “No! I don’t know how to cast that kind of illusion—” just behind them was the green tank, silently standing. He looks in between Asriel and Van, and looks at where Palette stand. They didn’t notice until they looked again. The white-haired boy stands in front of his own grave stone.

                “..why are you meeting here…?” like an old man’s heart shattered in sadness, he approaches the gravestone. “Papa….” It’s unfortunate that Darvenshel couldn’t see his son at all. Van comes closer to the goat child and whispered, ‘I had a suspicion that it could be a different person you were referring to. Because if Darvenshel would see someone resembling his son, or even hear about someone resembling him, he won’t be able to bear the pain of losing his son.’ The thought somehow made sense.

                The fact that his son is invisible could only mean that he is just a wandering soul in the real world, since Asriel and Van are able to. “Tell me Van, why did you lead Asriel here…?” his tone of voice shifts in between sorrow and anger. “TELL ME!” [[song starts here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypvg1WC-m-Y)] He doesn’t sound like the Empathic and patient Darvenshel that he just spoke with a while ago. He sounds like an entirely different person. Despite trying to avoid any uproars, Asriel and Van are forced to confront the heart aching Darvenshel. What will Asriel do?

[ATTACK]             [ACT]     [ITEM]  [♥ **MERCY** ]

                Asriel refuses to fight, as he looks at the green tank in the eyes. Despite his action, Darvenshel charges himself like a ramming bull towards them. Quick thinking, Chara takes over without warning and avoids the attack. ‘ _What are you doing? You could get both of us killed!_ ’ He thought maybe just by looking at him in the eye with sincerity would stop him, but it didn’t. The green tank rushes toward South, but as expected she nimbly parried his attack with here blade, causing a light scratch onto his armor.

                “Snap out of it, Darvenshel!” she states, while she raises her sword into a defensive stance. “Why did you come to my son’s grave?” With the given time, Asriel was given an option again.

[ATTACK]             [♥ **ACT** ] [ITEM]  [MERCY]

[♥ **TELL HIM** ]     [LIE]

                “We came here because we were following someone.” He didn’t think through with his actions—he let his feelings get the best of him. Darvenshel turns his attention to the goat child. “…Who…?” he’s exerting an intense pressure.  He can’t lie to this anymore, since he chose to tell the truth. “We were chasing a white-haired boy. He’s here right now, and—” it was like a blink of an eye, the side tip of a large arrow grazed the side of his face. Darvenshel quickly drew his pickaxe crossbow and shot one at him. “…Where are they now…?”

                “Asriel, what are you doing?!” Van asks in protest. Without warning, two arrows were shot towards her, but with her reaction time she was able to deflect them. Her swings weren’t that heavy, but it sent them flying in different directions with ease. What makes it ridiculous is that each arrow easily destroys the headstone it hits. The situation is becoming out of hand; they have to stop this before it causes more trouble.

                In the heat of moment, Asriel can hear Palette crying behind his gravestone. “Make it stop…please… make it stop…” his last words echoed inside the goat child’s mind, as he heard a tear drop echo. His soul resonates with the color Red and Blue. He claps both hands as he is filled with Determination. With a wave of both hands, he transforms into his adult form. But instead of flames whipping everywhere, it was a warm resonance of light that stretched from his hands, like beams piercing through the non-existing darkness around them. He spoke in Palette’s words “…please stop…no more…” [[song ends here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypvg1WC-m-Y)]

                The light extends, clearing away the shadows around them. And with his new profound power, it revealed the ghost child to reality. His existence became real, and with his crying sounds, the green tank halts. “…son…?” he drops his weapon as he makes his way to Palette’s gravestone. To his eyes, he sees him crying. “Palette…my son…? How?” his uncertain rage was quelled. “Papa…?” he looks at his father, and reaches out to him. “Papa!”

                “My son…! How is this possible?” Darvenshel asks himself. It didn’t occur to him the impossible things that a monster can do, let alone coming from the Hypergod who brought back Seven to reality. “Papa, please stop being mad! I’m scared…!” Van sheathes her sword as she sighs in relief. The green tank looks at the goat man and asks “Did you do this…?” Asriel looks at him with a sad expression. “He was the reason why I got this far in this city, and he was the one the guided us here.”

                “Papa, please stop fighting…” the white-haired child pleas. “He’s the only one who can help me talk to you…!” Darvenshel’s eyes widen, as Palette continues, “Papa, he’s [ **the angel** ] I was talking to you about…” Asriel asks. “What are you talking about?” He answers, “I had a dream that an angel will save everyone from darkness. A kind and silly angel who I can talk to.” Palette is no longer making sense to them, like a child’s imaginative story instill. It then occurred to Darvenshel that Asriel may be able to do the impossible.

                “Young Asriel… can you… [ **bring back my son** ] for me? It was a question he’s not sure how to answer to. He was able to make his ghost son visible, but he doubts that he can do something impossible. “You…were able to bring back Seven when he was…erased. Can you please try to bring my son back?” Asriel thinks for a moment. While he thinks, Van looks to her side; someone was watching them from afar. She clicks her tongue as she crosses her arms. “Darvenshel, you should spend your time with Palette while you can.” She then drops her arms down. “I don’t understand your point, but it’s not something even Asriel can casually do.”

                Darvenshel doesn’t want to acknowledge that fact, as he clings to the idea of the goat monster being able to do the impossible. Palette pats his father’s arm and looks at him with a sincere smile. “It’s okay, Papa. I’m sorry, papa, for leaving you and mama. But, I can only stay for a little while longer.” His words are like arrows piercing his heart. He wants to be with his son again, but even so, he has to let go. “Okay, son. If that’s what you want… then I will…let you..” he breaks down in crying, before the young boy could even cry in return. Asriel can smile a little, as he felt the same way when his parents discovered that he was alive.

                Now that he thinks about it, Darvenshel’s reaction reminds him of Toriel’s, as a parent would do anything to get their child back, even from the dead. He realizes that his selfish actions lead to his parents worrying like this. But even though he acted like this, he doesn’t regret it. Even though it wasn’t his intentions, but he was able to help Darvenshel see his son one more time, despite it being an accident.

His realization of how important family is, fills him with **DETERMINATION**. “…I’ll try to bring Palette back.”

-To be continued…

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, Ro-kun here. I'm here writing a possible AU extension of Undertale because I was inspired by two soundcloud voice actor named CyberneticPinkeye, the guy who voiced Flowey in the most twisted menacing way possible, and Lumisau(Darcy Maguire), the one who had voiced everyone's favorite goat child, Asriel (I have to admit, the character voicing literally met my standards, as well as the ones who voiced Asgore by Jaramo, Toriel by BoneGirLii, and Alphys by Chi-Chi.) Their work gave me an idea that might become a possibility. (emphasis on 'Possibility')
> 
> With different Alternative Universes of the game story being made from the moment the human fell underground to when they get to the surface, why not make one that could happen afterwards? There had also been a lot of possible outcomes that were very good that I suddenly had a strange idea, that sprouting out of nowhere while listening to the voice acting of Flowey.
> 
> Given the situation, I've earned enough determination to piece this work like a puzzle. And if you enjoyed this one, expect more to come. Let's just hope the writer's determination bar doesn't bleak empty in the middle. Oh, and if you guys wanna listen to the mentioned names, just look them up on Soundcloud and listen to their work.


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